Mileage: 58 miles
Terrain: Flat
Temperature: 105 degrees
Got up this morning and thankfully didn’t have to pack up my tent! Was on the road by 7:00 and we had 58 miles to ride. There were no services along the way and so they provided us with water stops every 20 miles. We hopped on one road and rode it west the entire way there!! The wind was from the south to southwest so it really wasn’t in our favor and we didn’t make that good of time. We didn’t really stop at the two rest stops long. We saw a lot of open pastures and as we were riding along in the distance saw a cow along the road out of the fence. Got my camera out and was getting ready to take a picture and as we got closer realized that it was a bull. I was scared; however, it didn’t do anything but look at us and keep eating the grass. I was rather bored so in a 20 mile stretch I decided to count cars and there were 27 total that went by us. We would look at trees ahead of us and guess how many miles it would be until we reached them. You can see for miles and miles. Finally, after a slow and hot 58 miles we arrived in Larned, KS where there was a swimming pool. Sat around at the park for awhile and then walked across the street to the pool, spent some time there and then got my laundry together because the van brought our laundry to the Laundromat and then we rode our bikes there to do it. We also had to take everything out of the trailer as they are going to sweep and clean it this afternoon. I think that I will probably go back to the pool later on and then maybe shower as I want to wait until it cools down. Thinking about going to the Sonic in a bit to get a delicious milkshake!!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Video!
Check out this video, one of the riders made!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcPB7vW-J3U&feature=share
June 29th - Cassoday, KS to Nickerson, KS
Mileage: 90 miles
Terrain: Flat
Temperature: 103 degrees
Got up this morning and it was a slow start. I was feeling rather tired from the day before. Got on the road about 7:45 am and the winds were from the south to southeast which was a good thing because they were not headwinds!! Rode 38 miles to the first town where our first rest stop was in Newton, KS. We ate at a place called Karen’s Kitchen and sat and chilled out for awhile as by this time it was getting rather hot out. Then decided to pull our sleepy selves up and hit the road. However, when we finally convinced ourselves to get up some of the other riders showed up that were running behind due to a flat or something so we decided to stay awhile and socialize with them and get more to eat. So I decided to have a Frappe as I needed some caffeine. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to give up drinking soda pop and I have succeeded thus far, so I couldn’t resort to that for caffeine. Trust me there are many times on this trip where I have been tempted as it sounds rather refreshing!! So after hanging around for about three hours or so we decided to move on. The next stretch was about 30 miles and 10 miles out we had already stopped to fill up on water at a gas station along the way. There was also a water sprinkler here which some of the riders decided to soak themselves in as it was the heat of the day by this time. We then decided to move on to the next water stop which was a total of 70 miles out for the day. I however, stopped along side of the road about every 5 miles just to cool off with some others. What I would do was look for trees and ride until I got to them then stop for just a few minutes and then keep going again. It was so hot out that I felt like I was in an oven!! Oh yeah and by this time the winds had changed and were a slight headwind which slowed us down some. Finally got to the last water stop and found out that there was a pool in town. I was so excited as it was EXTERMELLY hot out!! So we grabbed our suits from the trailer and went for a swim. It was SOO refreshing. Oh yeah and I also showered at the pool as we were informed that there wasn’t going to be any showers again in the town we were staying in which was still about another 20 miles. We then grabbed a bite to eat from a small restaurant tucked away in Buhler, KS and then decided to make the last ride into Nickerson, KS. We were originally supposed to be camping however, one of the guys that had gotten to town early was talking to some locals and had gotten us a place to stay at the community center here where it is air conditioned!! We are all very thankful as it has been very hot out! And they even have a spicket out back!! So it was yet another interesting yet adventurous day. Really enjoying Kansas, you can see for miles!! They have tons of cattle as you ride and wide open spaces and fields full of corn and beans for as far as you can see. Everyone here is also very friendly!! Well, it is getting late. Short day of only 60 miles and a pool where we are staying. Going to try to leave early, trailer is leaving by 7:00am in order to beat the heat.
Oh yeah, one of these days I am going to do a food diary just to try to remember all of the food that I consume in one day!!
Terrain: Flat
Temperature: 103 degrees
Got up this morning and it was a slow start. I was feeling rather tired from the day before. Got on the road about 7:45 am and the winds were from the south to southeast which was a good thing because they were not headwinds!! Rode 38 miles to the first town where our first rest stop was in Newton, KS. We ate at a place called Karen’s Kitchen and sat and chilled out for awhile as by this time it was getting rather hot out. Then decided to pull our sleepy selves up and hit the road. However, when we finally convinced ourselves to get up some of the other riders showed up that were running behind due to a flat or something so we decided to stay awhile and socialize with them and get more to eat. So I decided to have a Frappe as I needed some caffeine. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to give up drinking soda pop and I have succeeded thus far, so I couldn’t resort to that for caffeine. Trust me there are many times on this trip where I have been tempted as it sounds rather refreshing!! So after hanging around for about three hours or so we decided to move on. The next stretch was about 30 miles and 10 miles out we had already stopped to fill up on water at a gas station along the way. There was also a water sprinkler here which some of the riders decided to soak themselves in as it was the heat of the day by this time. We then decided to move on to the next water stop which was a total of 70 miles out for the day. I however, stopped along side of the road about every 5 miles just to cool off with some others. What I would do was look for trees and ride until I got to them then stop for just a few minutes and then keep going again. It was so hot out that I felt like I was in an oven!! Oh yeah and by this time the winds had changed and were a slight headwind which slowed us down some. Finally got to the last water stop and found out that there was a pool in town. I was so excited as it was EXTERMELLY hot out!! So we grabbed our suits from the trailer and went for a swim. It was SOO refreshing. Oh yeah and I also showered at the pool as we were informed that there wasn’t going to be any showers again in the town we were staying in which was still about another 20 miles. We then grabbed a bite to eat from a small restaurant tucked away in Buhler, KS and then decided to make the last ride into Nickerson, KS. We were originally supposed to be camping however, one of the guys that had gotten to town early was talking to some locals and had gotten us a place to stay at the community center here where it is air conditioned!! We are all very thankful as it has been very hot out! And they even have a spicket out back!! So it was yet another interesting yet adventurous day. Really enjoying Kansas, you can see for miles!! They have tons of cattle as you ride and wide open spaces and fields full of corn and beans for as far as you can see. Everyone here is also very friendly!! Well, it is getting late. Short day of only 60 miles and a pool where we are staying. Going to try to leave early, trailer is leaving by 7:00am in order to beat the heat.
Oh yeah, one of these days I am going to do a food diary just to try to remember all of the food that I consume in one day!!
June 27-28th - Pittsburg, KS to Chanute, KS to Cassoday, KS
Mileage: 60 miles, 100 miles
Terrain: Flat
Temperature: 95 degrees
So woke up and found out that the winds were coming from the east until about noon so got on the road and sailed to our first rest stop. Didn’t stay there long as we wanted to take advantage of the tailwinds and we were making really good time! The day went really fast as far as ridding and we made it to Chanute by 12:30. There were some people there who had made us lunch. Tacos mmmmmmmm. So we rode about a mile down from the park we were staying at and had lunch. We then were in dire need of doing laundry so we road about another mile or so to the Laundromat where we washed our clothes. By this time we were thinking a milkshake was sounding quite tasty so we stopped by the sonic on our way to Wal-Mart which was on our way to the park. I got some bread and apples for at rest stops and then we headed to the park. I got a shower, made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which I sometimes eat for breakfast and lunch and then got a shower. Then rode my bike back down to where we had lunch as they had also made hot dogs for us for dinner. By this time is was getting late so I headed back to camp and was in bed at 8:00 pm as I needed to catch up on my sleep. I slept very well!!
Woke up this morning and knew that we had one hundred miles to ride. Wasn’t too concerned because it was going to be flat!! So Kansas being flat. I am still convinced that riding around Columbus, Ohio it is flatter not that Kansas isn’t flat. Kansas is flat however, there are some slight gradual inclines and declines. We will see what it turns out like as we get further into the state. So this morning was informed that there were 10 to 15 mph headwinds from the east!! I was soo grateful as fighting headwinds all day would have gotten very old. We were told that it was fine to take our time as there was nothing to do in the town that we are staying in, Cassoday, and that the only thing here is a pit AKA whole in the ground for a restroom. That means no showers also. So that we did, we took our time. We went to McDonalds for breakfast where I had a delicious orange juice and then began riding for the day. About 15 miles out one of the girls I was riding with was like um I think I am getting a flat, so we pulled over and yep, her tire was flat. We got the tools out and started changing it as the mini van one of our support vehicles stopped asked if we were okay we said yep and she kept going. Were still changing the flat when the van and trailer drove by and we waved them on. Well finally we got a new tube and the same tire on the rim and pumped up and it looked funny, the tires bead was not catching on the rim and it was raised up off of the rim. The tired wasn’t even completely inflated. So as we were contemplating what to do two of the guys in our group rode up and we decided that we should stop them and ask them what to do. So one of them had the great idea to take the tire off again and move the spot where it was raising up to a different part of the wheel as it was right by the presta valve so we did. And it still didn’t solve the problem, the tire was still rising off of the rim. So we decided that maybe if she just rode really slow that we could get to the first rest stop so rode not even a half a mile and it was thumping and the spot where the tire was raised off of the rim was starting to bulge. So we had to call the van and they had to bring us a new tire. Waited along the road for awhile until the van came and then changed the tire and rode on. We were rather behind and were very thankful for the tailwinds as otherwise it would have been a very long day. Missed the first rest stop however, stopped at a small carry out/ restaurant had some lunch and then moved on and made the second rest stop about 45 miles out. Stopped there, socialized with everyone, had some ice cream and kept on riding. Rode about 30 more easy miles and stopped in a small town where there was a very small restaurant had a small bite to eat, charged our phones and decided to make the part of our ride. Saw many cattle along the ride. Finally, came into Cassoday at about 7 pm sat around and then decided to make the journey over to the gas station next door where they were kind enough to let us use their hose as a shower. Rinsed off and now I am lying in my tent getting very sleepy. I hear a train blowing its horn and think to myself OMG, please don’t go through the night!! Three of the riders in our group did decided to take advantage of the tailwinds today and head on to the next town which is about 38 miles away and got a hotel room. Needless to say, I might be a little jealous of them!! I am sure they would have gone further however, I saw on the map that after the next town it says 58 miles no services so there would have been no where for them to stay and no water stops for them as well as these will be very important for us to make tomorrow as today there were some places along route for us to stop and fill up on water. Well that concludes my day! Nite!
Terrain: Flat
Temperature: 95 degrees
So woke up and found out that the winds were coming from the east until about noon so got on the road and sailed to our first rest stop. Didn’t stay there long as we wanted to take advantage of the tailwinds and we were making really good time! The day went really fast as far as ridding and we made it to Chanute by 12:30. There were some people there who had made us lunch. Tacos mmmmmmmm. So we rode about a mile down from the park we were staying at and had lunch. We then were in dire need of doing laundry so we road about another mile or so to the Laundromat where we washed our clothes. By this time we were thinking a milkshake was sounding quite tasty so we stopped by the sonic on our way to Wal-Mart which was on our way to the park. I got some bread and apples for at rest stops and then we headed to the park. I got a shower, made some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which I sometimes eat for breakfast and lunch and then got a shower. Then rode my bike back down to where we had lunch as they had also made hot dogs for us for dinner. By this time is was getting late so I headed back to camp and was in bed at 8:00 pm as I needed to catch up on my sleep. I slept very well!!
Woke up this morning and knew that we had one hundred miles to ride. Wasn’t too concerned because it was going to be flat!! So Kansas being flat. I am still convinced that riding around Columbus, Ohio it is flatter not that Kansas isn’t flat. Kansas is flat however, there are some slight gradual inclines and declines. We will see what it turns out like as we get further into the state. So this morning was informed that there were 10 to 15 mph headwinds from the east!! I was soo grateful as fighting headwinds all day would have gotten very old. We were told that it was fine to take our time as there was nothing to do in the town that we are staying in, Cassoday, and that the only thing here is a pit AKA whole in the ground for a restroom. That means no showers also. So that we did, we took our time. We went to McDonalds for breakfast where I had a delicious orange juice and then began riding for the day. About 15 miles out one of the girls I was riding with was like um I think I am getting a flat, so we pulled over and yep, her tire was flat. We got the tools out and started changing it as the mini van one of our support vehicles stopped asked if we were okay we said yep and she kept going. Were still changing the flat when the van and trailer drove by and we waved them on. Well finally we got a new tube and the same tire on the rim and pumped up and it looked funny, the tires bead was not catching on the rim and it was raised up off of the rim. The tired wasn’t even completely inflated. So as we were contemplating what to do two of the guys in our group rode up and we decided that we should stop them and ask them what to do. So one of them had the great idea to take the tire off again and move the spot where it was raising up to a different part of the wheel as it was right by the presta valve so we did. And it still didn’t solve the problem, the tire was still rising off of the rim. So we decided that maybe if she just rode really slow that we could get to the first rest stop so rode not even a half a mile and it was thumping and the spot where the tire was raised off of the rim was starting to bulge. So we had to call the van and they had to bring us a new tire. Waited along the road for awhile until the van came and then changed the tire and rode on. We were rather behind and were very thankful for the tailwinds as otherwise it would have been a very long day. Missed the first rest stop however, stopped at a small carry out/ restaurant had some lunch and then moved on and made the second rest stop about 45 miles out. Stopped there, socialized with everyone, had some ice cream and kept on riding. Rode about 30 more easy miles and stopped in a small town where there was a very small restaurant had a small bite to eat, charged our phones and decided to make the part of our ride. Saw many cattle along the ride. Finally, came into Cassoday at about 7 pm sat around and then decided to make the journey over to the gas station next door where they were kind enough to let us use their hose as a shower. Rinsed off and now I am lying in my tent getting very sleepy. I hear a train blowing its horn and think to myself OMG, please don’t go through the night!! Three of the riders in our group did decided to take advantage of the tailwinds today and head on to the next town which is about 38 miles away and got a hotel room. Needless to say, I might be a little jealous of them!! I am sure they would have gone further however, I saw on the map that after the next town it says 58 miles no services so there would have been no where for them to stay and no water stops for them as well as these will be very important for us to make tomorrow as today there were some places along route for us to stop and fill up on water. Well that concludes my day! Nite!
Monday, June 27, 2011
June 25-26th - Hartville, MO to Ash Grove, MO to Pittsburg, KS
Mileage: 76 miles, 70 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 90 degrees, 95 degrees
Wow, I am finding this very hard to write as it is hard for me to exactly remember yesterday as all the days are running together. So in Hartville, MO I woke up in my tent in front of the court house. We started riding and just cruising along. The hills were starting to flatten out and we were starting to like it!! First stop was in Marshfield, MO where we ate at a breakfast. I had this delicious stuffed French toast with strawberries on top. Best French toast EVER!! We then road on and had our second water stop of the day at about mile 50 and then kept moving on. For some reason toward the end of the ride there were some really steep hills coming into Ash Grove, MO and I think most of us were pretty tired by this time and well, not expecting them. Finally, we got into Ash Grove and were very excited that we were staying right by a pool as it was very hot out!! We all decided to cool off in the pool and then get showers. The church had a small hall/house (empty) right by the pool/park where they were having a BBQ dinner that they invited all of us to eat with them. So that we did. Once the dinner was over, they allowed us to sleep on the floor in the house which we were very thankful of as it was air conditioned and there were no bugs!! Slept well and woke up this morning well rested.
Got up and on the road at about 7:45 am and were informed previously that in Pittsburg, KS that there was a pizza place that was going to serve us lunch for free at 2:00 pm so we had to watch the clock and keep moving. We got on the road and things were getting even flatter so we were able to make good time. About 4 miles out from our first rest stop we made a turn heading north and well the wind was from the south so this was a very quick fast rolling 4 miles. However, about two miles out myself and one of the other girls that I was riding with saw 3 of the guys that are in our group sitting in the ditch and asked if they needed anything and they had said that they called the van so we figured everything was okay and kept rolling on. Once we got to the rest stop we had found out that the three of them were riding a pace line and for those of you that don’t know what this is, it is when you ride very close behind the person in front of you to get a draft off of them. Well with the tailwind they were going about 30+ mph and the second person hit the wheel of the person in front and he went down. The person in the back managed to avoid the wreck. This really can happen to anyone in a pace line and it is kind of one of those things that is like “at your own risk.” He was pretty shook up, so they took him to the ER and it turns out that all that he had as a lot of road rash. This person is actually one of the route leaders so he only gets to ride every other day and will be taking a few days off now.
After about 35 miles came to our first rest stop in some little town where a small restaurant had great pie!! Our leader Pepper had eaten here last year and had told us about it so I had to try some. By this time I was quite hungry so I decided to have a piece of peach and a piece of banana pie as well and he was correct, they were delicious!! Waited here for about 1.5 hours as we had thought a storm was rolling in. This was setting us back. Finally got word that it was going to pass and it was okay to ride on. The last 33 miles went by fairly fast as well. There were some cross winds that slowed us down a bit however, not too much. Finally, about 3 miles out from Pittsburg, KS we came to the Kansas border and had to stop to take some pictures with the Kansas sign!! Many of the riders were there and we were informed that there were some waiting at an intersection in town for the rest of us as there was news media at this pizza place that was giving us lunch. So we all road in together. The pizza was wonderful and we all socialized with everyone and some people with MS as well. There is a lady that they know from town here named Gina who has MS who arranged all of this for us. She also arranged for us to go a few blocks down the street then to a different place who gave us frozen custard for free. It was good as well!! And so much more she did for us. There was a pool hall in this same area that allowed us to play pool in the late afternoon for free, so some of us went there to hang out and stay cool in the air conditioning. We then rode about a mile or two to the high school and got showers and then Gina had arranged for dinner for us as well. It was so kind of her and also for us to stay in the gym, where there is air conditioning!! She is just so appreciative because she knows that without the money for research for medication she would not have medication to take for her MS. She also arranged for a woman to speak who has MS as well. The woman did a wonderful job speaking and spoke about her experience with MS. She stated that she was 57 years old was diagnosed at 21 years old and how she had lost vision at one time, hearing and is now deaf, couldn’t walk, couldn’t smell, couldn’t taste or even move. She stated how medication has turned her life around and now she is just thankful that she can stand. She still has many symptoms and has had to have many surgeries on her back. She stated how she used to be a nurse manager on a unit and how MS affected her career. It was wonderful to hear her speak because it really made all of us remember why we are doing this and why we raised the funds. She stated that many people today who are diagnosed with MS will not have to go through what she has gone through due to testing and research which evolves from the funds raised. It was very inspirational and we have truly had the opportunity to meet some really great people along the way!! So it has been a very busy and eventful day!! At this time it is 11:00 pm and I am surprised that almost everyone is still up, but its wayyyyyyyyyy past my bedtime. Good thing we have hopefully what will be a short and easy day of 60ish flat miles, that is if the wind decides to cooperate with us!!
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 90 degrees, 95 degrees
Wow, I am finding this very hard to write as it is hard for me to exactly remember yesterday as all the days are running together. So in Hartville, MO I woke up in my tent in front of the court house. We started riding and just cruising along. The hills were starting to flatten out and we were starting to like it!! First stop was in Marshfield, MO where we ate at a breakfast. I had this delicious stuffed French toast with strawberries on top. Best French toast EVER!! We then road on and had our second water stop of the day at about mile 50 and then kept moving on. For some reason toward the end of the ride there were some really steep hills coming into Ash Grove, MO and I think most of us were pretty tired by this time and well, not expecting them. Finally, we got into Ash Grove and were very excited that we were staying right by a pool as it was very hot out!! We all decided to cool off in the pool and then get showers. The church had a small hall/house (empty) right by the pool/park where they were having a BBQ dinner that they invited all of us to eat with them. So that we did. Once the dinner was over, they allowed us to sleep on the floor in the house which we were very thankful of as it was air conditioned and there were no bugs!! Slept well and woke up this morning well rested.
Got up and on the road at about 7:45 am and were informed previously that in Pittsburg, KS that there was a pizza place that was going to serve us lunch for free at 2:00 pm so we had to watch the clock and keep moving. We got on the road and things were getting even flatter so we were able to make good time. About 4 miles out from our first rest stop we made a turn heading north and well the wind was from the south so this was a very quick fast rolling 4 miles. However, about two miles out myself and one of the other girls that I was riding with saw 3 of the guys that are in our group sitting in the ditch and asked if they needed anything and they had said that they called the van so we figured everything was okay and kept rolling on. Once we got to the rest stop we had found out that the three of them were riding a pace line and for those of you that don’t know what this is, it is when you ride very close behind the person in front of you to get a draft off of them. Well with the tailwind they were going about 30+ mph and the second person hit the wheel of the person in front and he went down. The person in the back managed to avoid the wreck. This really can happen to anyone in a pace line and it is kind of one of those things that is like “at your own risk.” He was pretty shook up, so they took him to the ER and it turns out that all that he had as a lot of road rash. This person is actually one of the route leaders so he only gets to ride every other day and will be taking a few days off now.
After about 35 miles came to our first rest stop in some little town where a small restaurant had great pie!! Our leader Pepper had eaten here last year and had told us about it so I had to try some. By this time I was quite hungry so I decided to have a piece of peach and a piece of banana pie as well and he was correct, they were delicious!! Waited here for about 1.5 hours as we had thought a storm was rolling in. This was setting us back. Finally got word that it was going to pass and it was okay to ride on. The last 33 miles went by fairly fast as well. There were some cross winds that slowed us down a bit however, not too much. Finally, about 3 miles out from Pittsburg, KS we came to the Kansas border and had to stop to take some pictures with the Kansas sign!! Many of the riders were there and we were informed that there were some waiting at an intersection in town for the rest of us as there was news media at this pizza place that was giving us lunch. So we all road in together. The pizza was wonderful and we all socialized with everyone and some people with MS as well. There is a lady that they know from town here named Gina who has MS who arranged all of this for us. She also arranged for us to go a few blocks down the street then to a different place who gave us frozen custard for free. It was good as well!! And so much more she did for us. There was a pool hall in this same area that allowed us to play pool in the late afternoon for free, so some of us went there to hang out and stay cool in the air conditioning. We then rode about a mile or two to the high school and got showers and then Gina had arranged for dinner for us as well. It was so kind of her and also for us to stay in the gym, where there is air conditioning!! She is just so appreciative because she knows that without the money for research for medication she would not have medication to take for her MS. She also arranged for a woman to speak who has MS as well. The woman did a wonderful job speaking and spoke about her experience with MS. She stated that she was 57 years old was diagnosed at 21 years old and how she had lost vision at one time, hearing and is now deaf, couldn’t walk, couldn’t smell, couldn’t taste or even move. She stated how medication has turned her life around and now she is just thankful that she can stand. She still has many symptoms and has had to have many surgeries on her back. She stated how she used to be a nurse manager on a unit and how MS affected her career. It was wonderful to hear her speak because it really made all of us remember why we are doing this and why we raised the funds. She stated that many people today who are diagnosed with MS will not have to go through what she has gone through due to testing and research which evolves from the funds raised. It was very inspirational and we have truly had the opportunity to meet some really great people along the way!! So it has been a very busy and eventful day!! At this time it is 11:00 pm and I am surprised that almost everyone is still up, but its wayyyyyyyyyy past my bedtime. Good thing we have hopefully what will be a short and easy day of 60ish flat miles, that is if the wind decides to cooperate with us!!
Friday, June 24, 2011
June 24th - Eminence, MO to Hartville, MO
Mileage: 80 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
Got up this morning got everything packed up and ready to go. Made some PB&J sandwiches and hit the road. The sky was looking pretty dark and it soon began to rain. Decided that it wasn’t heavy enough to stop and that we should push on, so that we did. It was a rather cold morning so it didn’t mix well with the rain. Soon I was very wet and cold, my feet were sloshing around in my shoes and my finders were starting to prune. Finally, we came to the first town about 20 miles out. I thought to myself, it’s going to be a long day. Sat down at a small diner and had some coffee. Everything was still wet, checked the weather and determined that by noon the rain should be through so decided to wait it out. By 11:30 the rain had mostly subsided so we decided to hit the road!! It turned out to be a glorious day. Things are defiantly starting to flatten out even more so, so I knew that it was not going to be as rough of day as yesterday. Road about 22 miles into a town called Housten and had some Subway for lunch. Then about 2 miles out from Housten there was the second rest stop of the day. It was along this river with a huge rock on the other side that you could jump off of. It was about a 30 foot drop to the water. Everyone was in the water and jumping. I contemplated for a while and then finally decided to do it!! I knew that if I didn’t I would ride away and regret it forever. And I thought to myself, you only live once, so lets live it up!! So I waded to the other side of the river and started climbing up the river bed. There were tons of rocks, it was like you were rock climbing just to get to this jump. Walked along the top of the side of this rock as my adrenaline began pumping!! I thought to myself OMG what have I gotten myself into!! The climb to the jump was rather difficult with all of the rocks and climbing and I thought OMG, I have to jump there is no way that I could make it back the way I came! One of the girls, Brittany was doing it a second time just because I didn’t want to do it alone. So we finally got to the jump!! I made her go first just to see how it was done, well lets just say, it looked a lot further down when you were actually up there!! She went and without much hesitation, I followed. I had no choice there was nothing to debate this was the only way out!! Well, the water felt GREAT!! However, my thighs did not!! I ended up smacking them on the water pretty hard and they were tingling, but I DID IT!! I faced my fear and now can never regret it!! So after cooling off in the river we got back on the bikes with only about 30ish miles to go. Rode on and enjoyed the ride, the terrain was wonderful, some gradual climbs with beautiful scenery. Came to the final water stop of the day which was much needed as I was out of water. We all chilled out there along the side of the road with the trailer in some parking lot in the middle of nowhere and listened to some music and joked around. By this time it was getting late in the afternoon so we moved on to ride the last 13 miles to Hartville, MO where we are staying outside of their courthouse. We were informed that there were no showers however, we did find I spicket and a hose to rinse off in. So I got my environmentally friendly soap put on my swimsuit and got my shower. It felt wonderful!! We joked about how we were in the center of this small town, bathing in a hose in front of the court house. Got my tent set up, took a Tylenol pm as I have many bug bites that kept me awake last night and really need to get my sleep tonight. WOW, I cannot believe that it is only one more day and we will be in Kansas. We are around 1500 miles and in a few days will be half way. What a great trip it has been thus far, not to say that there haven’t been difficult times as well!!
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
Got up this morning got everything packed up and ready to go. Made some PB&J sandwiches and hit the road. The sky was looking pretty dark and it soon began to rain. Decided that it wasn’t heavy enough to stop and that we should push on, so that we did. It was a rather cold morning so it didn’t mix well with the rain. Soon I was very wet and cold, my feet were sloshing around in my shoes and my finders were starting to prune. Finally, we came to the first town about 20 miles out. I thought to myself, it’s going to be a long day. Sat down at a small diner and had some coffee. Everything was still wet, checked the weather and determined that by noon the rain should be through so decided to wait it out. By 11:30 the rain had mostly subsided so we decided to hit the road!! It turned out to be a glorious day. Things are defiantly starting to flatten out even more so, so I knew that it was not going to be as rough of day as yesterday. Road about 22 miles into a town called Housten and had some Subway for lunch. Then about 2 miles out from Housten there was the second rest stop of the day. It was along this river with a huge rock on the other side that you could jump off of. It was about a 30 foot drop to the water. Everyone was in the water and jumping. I contemplated for a while and then finally decided to do it!! I knew that if I didn’t I would ride away and regret it forever. And I thought to myself, you only live once, so lets live it up!! So I waded to the other side of the river and started climbing up the river bed. There were tons of rocks, it was like you were rock climbing just to get to this jump. Walked along the top of the side of this rock as my adrenaline began pumping!! I thought to myself OMG what have I gotten myself into!! The climb to the jump was rather difficult with all of the rocks and climbing and I thought OMG, I have to jump there is no way that I could make it back the way I came! One of the girls, Brittany was doing it a second time just because I didn’t want to do it alone. So we finally got to the jump!! I made her go first just to see how it was done, well lets just say, it looked a lot further down when you were actually up there!! She went and without much hesitation, I followed. I had no choice there was nothing to debate this was the only way out!! Well, the water felt GREAT!! However, my thighs did not!! I ended up smacking them on the water pretty hard and they were tingling, but I DID IT!! I faced my fear and now can never regret it!! So after cooling off in the river we got back on the bikes with only about 30ish miles to go. Rode on and enjoyed the ride, the terrain was wonderful, some gradual climbs with beautiful scenery. Came to the final water stop of the day which was much needed as I was out of water. We all chilled out there along the side of the road with the trailer in some parking lot in the middle of nowhere and listened to some music and joked around. By this time it was getting late in the afternoon so we moved on to ride the last 13 miles to Hartville, MO where we are staying outside of their courthouse. We were informed that there were no showers however, we did find I spicket and a hose to rinse off in. So I got my environmentally friendly soap put on my swimsuit and got my shower. It felt wonderful!! We joked about how we were in the center of this small town, bathing in a hose in front of the court house. Got my tent set up, took a Tylenol pm as I have many bug bites that kept me awake last night and really need to get my sleep tonight. WOW, I cannot believe that it is only one more day and we will be in Kansas. We are around 1500 miles and in a few days will be half way. What a great trip it has been thus far, not to say that there haven’t been difficult times as well!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
June 23nd - Farmington, MO to Eminence, MO
Mileage: 85 miles
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So woke up at the hostel this morning. Slept great, they had real beds with sheets on them. One of the girls Shannon even said to me this morning, “you slept well last night, didn’t you” I was like yeah it felt great to sleep in a bed with real sheets and blankets!! Got everything together, it was a slow start to the morning and we got on the road at 7:30 am and it was fairly flat to rolling to start out the day with lots of cross/ head winds. Road about 20 miles out had our first rest stop and kept rolling on. The hills soon began to pick up and I soon realized that I was climbing the Ozark Mountains! Thought about the hills and realized that these hills were steeper than in Virginia but shorter. However, there were still some nice descents that we did not have previously in Kentucky but were comparable to Virginia with wind. Rode to the half way point stopped at a little carryout/ restaurant had a bite to eat and kept pushing on up and down the hills. We were informed prior to today’s ride that this area was very dense in logging trucks, however, we only saw 2-3 big logging trucks, I was relieved and traffic wasn’t heavy at all. Moved on to the 3rd rest stop for the day since it was long mileage and was happy to be there since I was out of water by this point. Rested for quite some time at this stop as by then we were beginning to get tired!! However, when we found out that there was ice cream in the town we were camping in decided to move on. Finally arrived in Eminence and went straight to the ice cream place where I enjoyed a delicious peanut butter milkshake. I figure that this was completely necessary as I needed the protein from the peanut butter and after a grueling 85 some miles figured I would treat myself. (okay I’m still trying to justify it…… and think I may have.) Then went to the local grocery which was very small and picked up some peaches and apples. Fresh fruit at the rest stops is very refreshing!! Then rode to the privately owned camp ground. Got my stuff out of the trailer and sat down at a picnic table. Contemplated putting up my tent for a good hour or two and then decided to walk down to the river with some of the others. Heard from some of the other riders that there was a rope that you could swing out into the river with. Thought this sounded like fun!! So I joined them. First I wadded in the water which was somewhat cold, however, it was clear. Many of the riders found that this would be the perfect shower opportunity as the showers here at the campground cost money. One of the older riders Ike even brought his bar soap down to the river. He soaped up right on top of his jersey and shorts and then even asked me to soap up his back over his jersey. I was like sure what the heck……..lol. I had not gotten in at this point as it was kind of cold and many others were swinging from the rope into the water so I felt that this would be the perfect opportunity and that it was. It felt wonderful to jump in after a grueling long day of riding. We then decided to make the short walk back to the campsite and joked about how it was the best shower yet….. and that it was even co-ed….lol. However, if you know how I am I still choose to take a shower in the shower house where you had to put quarters in for the water to run. Before that I had set up my tent so once I got out of the shower came straight to my tent started typing this and am ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow is supposed to be another long day of 78 miles. Nite!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So woke up at the hostel this morning. Slept great, they had real beds with sheets on them. One of the girls Shannon even said to me this morning, “you slept well last night, didn’t you” I was like yeah it felt great to sleep in a bed with real sheets and blankets!! Got everything together, it was a slow start to the morning and we got on the road at 7:30 am and it was fairly flat to rolling to start out the day with lots of cross/ head winds. Road about 20 miles out had our first rest stop and kept rolling on. The hills soon began to pick up and I soon realized that I was climbing the Ozark Mountains! Thought about the hills and realized that these hills were steeper than in Virginia but shorter. However, there were still some nice descents that we did not have previously in Kentucky but were comparable to Virginia with wind. Rode to the half way point stopped at a little carryout/ restaurant had a bite to eat and kept pushing on up and down the hills. We were informed prior to today’s ride that this area was very dense in logging trucks, however, we only saw 2-3 big logging trucks, I was relieved and traffic wasn’t heavy at all. Moved on to the 3rd rest stop for the day since it was long mileage and was happy to be there since I was out of water by this point. Rested for quite some time at this stop as by then we were beginning to get tired!! However, when we found out that there was ice cream in the town we were camping in decided to move on. Finally arrived in Eminence and went straight to the ice cream place where I enjoyed a delicious peanut butter milkshake. I figure that this was completely necessary as I needed the protein from the peanut butter and after a grueling 85 some miles figured I would treat myself. (okay I’m still trying to justify it…… and think I may have.) Then went to the local grocery which was very small and picked up some peaches and apples. Fresh fruit at the rest stops is very refreshing!! Then rode to the privately owned camp ground. Got my stuff out of the trailer and sat down at a picnic table. Contemplated putting up my tent for a good hour or two and then decided to walk down to the river with some of the others. Heard from some of the other riders that there was a rope that you could swing out into the river with. Thought this sounded like fun!! So I joined them. First I wadded in the water which was somewhat cold, however, it was clear. Many of the riders found that this would be the perfect shower opportunity as the showers here at the campground cost money. One of the older riders Ike even brought his bar soap down to the river. He soaped up right on top of his jersey and shorts and then even asked me to soap up his back over his jersey. I was like sure what the heck……..lol. I had not gotten in at this point as it was kind of cold and many others were swinging from the rope into the water so I felt that this would be the perfect opportunity and that it was. It felt wonderful to jump in after a grueling long day of riding. We then decided to make the short walk back to the campsite and joked about how it was the best shower yet….. and that it was even co-ed….lol. However, if you know how I am I still choose to take a shower in the shower house where you had to put quarters in for the water to run. Before that I had set up my tent so once I got out of the shower came straight to my tent started typing this and am ready to go to sleep. Tomorrow is supposed to be another long day of 78 miles. Nite!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
June 22nd - Chester, IL to Farmington, MO
Mileage: 47 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So last night we slept at the Eagles and we were warned to not put up our tents because it was supposed to storm. Well that it did, however, three of the riders chose to put up their tents before it started to storm. I waited out the storm inside of the Eagles, however, many chose to wait it out under the shelter house outside. They watched the tents and described it as a demolition derby. So after the storm was over they had found out that 2 of the 3 tents survived and the one apparently looked like a kiddy pool. So Ike the owner of the “kiddy pool” had to make a run to Wal-Mart to purchase a new home!! So the was another cyclist staying outside of the Eagles as well and had his tent set up and he said something about a bunk house. So we soon asked one of the Eagles workers about this alleged bunk house and she gave us the key. The ground was soaked, however, there were only 9 bunks and I was lucky enough to get one. They even had a window air conditioner in this very small bunk house!! The this morning we woke up got everything packed up into the trailer and headed out of Chester, IL the home of Popeye!! We then shortly came to the bridge to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri!! Stopped took some pictures while still in Illinois and then crossed over!! Took some pictures with the Missouri state sign and started riding. The first part of the ride was pretty flat and there where headwinds present. However, I am sure that they are nothing compared to what we will be experiencing in Kansas!! Rode out a little further and then started coming to some hills. Supposedly we are passing through the Ozarks or something like that. I am sure that these hills will not even compare to the monstrous hills in Virginia! Came to our first rest stop and one of our route leaders, Pepper informed us that about 10 miles from the rest stop that there was a Brewery that was worth stopping at so we did. I had delicious nachos while there. There were also many vineyards and wineries that we passed along the route. After the Brewery we only had about 12 miles left to Farmington, MO where we are staying at a hostel that was just remodeled. It is soooo nice!! They have rooms with bunk beds and a washer and dryer and two very nice showers. After we arrived at the hostel we decided that we should get some ice cream so we walked a few blocks to an ice cream place and the basis of our conversation was that we think that we should start a reality show out of this trip. However, the problem is that everyone is very laid back and there really isn’t any drama on this trip. We have decided though that drama could definitely be created by a camera crew as they do on many reality shows. Got back from ice cream got a shower, did some laundry and now everyone is discussing going to get Mexican food so I figure I’ll tag along as I am still full from the shake that I consumed!
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So last night we slept at the Eagles and we were warned to not put up our tents because it was supposed to storm. Well that it did, however, three of the riders chose to put up their tents before it started to storm. I waited out the storm inside of the Eagles, however, many chose to wait it out under the shelter house outside. They watched the tents and described it as a demolition derby. So after the storm was over they had found out that 2 of the 3 tents survived and the one apparently looked like a kiddy pool. So Ike the owner of the “kiddy pool” had to make a run to Wal-Mart to purchase a new home!! So the was another cyclist staying outside of the Eagles as well and had his tent set up and he said something about a bunk house. So we soon asked one of the Eagles workers about this alleged bunk house and she gave us the key. The ground was soaked, however, there were only 9 bunks and I was lucky enough to get one. They even had a window air conditioner in this very small bunk house!! The this morning we woke up got everything packed up into the trailer and headed out of Chester, IL the home of Popeye!! We then shortly came to the bridge to cross the Mississippi River into Missouri!! Stopped took some pictures while still in Illinois and then crossed over!! Took some pictures with the Missouri state sign and started riding. The first part of the ride was pretty flat and there where headwinds present. However, I am sure that they are nothing compared to what we will be experiencing in Kansas!! Rode out a little further and then started coming to some hills. Supposedly we are passing through the Ozarks or something like that. I am sure that these hills will not even compare to the monstrous hills in Virginia! Came to our first rest stop and one of our route leaders, Pepper informed us that about 10 miles from the rest stop that there was a Brewery that was worth stopping at so we did. I had delicious nachos while there. There were also many vineyards and wineries that we passed along the route. After the Brewery we only had about 12 miles left to Farmington, MO where we are staying at a hostel that was just remodeled. It is soooo nice!! They have rooms with bunk beds and a washer and dryer and two very nice showers. After we arrived at the hostel we decided that we should get some ice cream so we walked a few blocks to an ice cream place and the basis of our conversation was that we think that we should start a reality show out of this trip. However, the problem is that everyone is very laid back and there really isn’t any drama on this trip. We have decided though that drama could definitely be created by a camera crew as they do on many reality shows. Got back from ice cream got a shower, did some laundry and now everyone is discussing going to get Mexican food so I figure I’ll tag along as I am still full from the shake that I consumed!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
June 20th-21st - Carbondale, IL to Chester, IL
Mileage: 50ish miles
Terrain: Flat Lands
Temperature: 85 ish degrees and Humid
On our rest day we got some laundry done at Seth’s parents’ house. They were so hospitable and were cooking for us constantly. They made breakfast and lasagna and lots of other good food! At 11:00 am we got loaded up in the van and went to a very sweet lady’s house named Joan who has MS. We did a yard makeover and cleaned some windows for her. There is it seems like always news media and newspapers etc. doing stories on our group and we did end up in Carbondale’s Newspaper and on the news. We then went to Wal-Mart stocked up on food, I got some fresh fruit which is wonderful when you are out on the road!! Went back to Seth’s house chilled out, cleaned my bike, got a shower and had some adjustments made on Ruby. This morning at about 8:00 am we all went to a café in town that offered us breakfast at half price. Had breakfast and then started riding. We only had about 50 miles today which was fairly easy and we ended up riding along the Mississippi River which was fairly flat. There was LOTS of flooding around this area and in many cases the road was the only thing above ground. The was one time when we even had to ride through a short part of the road that was flooded and was about 6-12 inches deep. My feet were then soaked for the rest of the day!! We got to camp which we are staying at an Eagles Bar out back. We are tenting and they even have a shower in a little room in the basement. Once I took a shower and got out it immediately started pouring rain. However, there was a small shelter and we are now sitting inside, where it is nice and cool!!
Terrain: Flat Lands
Temperature: 85 ish degrees and Humid
On our rest day we got some laundry done at Seth’s parents’ house. They were so hospitable and were cooking for us constantly. They made breakfast and lasagna and lots of other good food! At 11:00 am we got loaded up in the van and went to a very sweet lady’s house named Joan who has MS. We did a yard makeover and cleaned some windows for her. There is it seems like always news media and newspapers etc. doing stories on our group and we did end up in Carbondale’s Newspaper and on the news. We then went to Wal-Mart stocked up on food, I got some fresh fruit which is wonderful when you are out on the road!! Went back to Seth’s house chilled out, cleaned my bike, got a shower and had some adjustments made on Ruby. This morning at about 8:00 am we all went to a café in town that offered us breakfast at half price. Had breakfast and then started riding. We only had about 50 miles today which was fairly easy and we ended up riding along the Mississippi River which was fairly flat. There was LOTS of flooding around this area and in many cases the road was the only thing above ground. The was one time when we even had to ride through a short part of the road that was flooded and was about 6-12 inches deep. My feet were then soaked for the rest of the day!! We got to camp which we are staying at an Eagles Bar out back. We are tenting and they even have a shower in a little room in the basement. Once I took a shower and got out it immediately started pouring rain. However, there was a small shelter and we are now sitting inside, where it is nice and cool!!
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 18-19th - Sebree, KY to Cave in Rock, IL to Carbondale, IL
Mileage: 55 miles, 83 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills to Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So we finally left Sebree at about 1:30 pm when the rain subsided and the sun began to shine! It turned out to be a beautiful ride with many rolling hills and lots of horses along the way. We had our first rest stop at about 20ish miles had a snack and moved on. Then we came to a little town in Marion, KY and saw the trailer pulled over at a gas station which was our second rest stop. One of the locals that own a café in this restaurant offered to treat us all to dinner since it was about 5:00 by this time. He thought what we were doing was really neat. The food was great!! Probably some of the best food that we have had on the trip so far. So we had dinner there and knowing that we only had 12 miles to the ferry and Cave in Rock we ate up!! We then left Marion to make the last leg of the trip and it was very fast rolling and mostly downhill due to going down the river bank of the Ohio River. Took the ferry to the other side and camped at Cave in Rock National Park in Illinois. The ferry ride was rather short about 5 minutes or so but still a fun experience. By the time we got to camp it was about 8:00ish and we still had to set up our tents and it was getting dark and the bugs were eating me alive! So I hurried to set my tent up as it was past my bed time, went to the shower house, got a shower which was warm however, it was rather dark in the shower house but I made it work. I then crawled in my tent and went to sleep rather quickly as I was very tired. However, it was a very long night as I must have not set up my tent on very flat ground so my sleeping mat kept sliding to the side of my tent. I think my entire tent etc was slowly sliding down the small hill. I then woke up at about 5:00 am when it started to thunder and become very windy and my tent started really blowing. At this time I went in the trailer and decided it was time to stake my tent down. The wind really started blowing and my stakes shortly were pulled out of the ground. I decided that at this time to just get everything packed up and sit in the restroom. So packed everything in my tent up brought it to the trailer and put it away and then when I went back to tear down my tent, it was gone!! It had blown down the hill and it was still dark out!! So with my head lamp on I headed down the hill and soon found it rather far away. By this time it was pouring down rain, so I grabbed my tent and sailed it back to the trailer, tore it down and went to the restroom. Some of the other riders where there as well, however, none of them had the tent blowing away experience that I did. Waited out the storm and then took off around 8:30 am knowing that we had a fairly long day with 83 miles and hills. It was in my book one of the toughest days as I had not gotten much sleep the night before and it was very hot out. We had some sprinkles of rain throughout the day and we even stopped at a restaurant about 25 miles from Carbondale, IL to get something to eat. They were offering cyclist a free desert. So I took them up and had a piece of coconut cream pie…mmmmmm. We finally arrived at Carbondale, IL after passing two beautiful lakes and are staying at one of the riders from last year, house. They had a small pool set up for us and it was cold water, it felt amazing to jump in. They had lots of food for everyone and everyone just chilled out and had a good time. Everyone chose to sleep inside in the air conditioning and throw their mats on the floor. I slept very well as I was exhausted!! Slept until about 8:30 am had a bite to eat and we are all now just chilling out. We have to be ready at 11:00 am to do our service project of a yard makeover for someone with MS. It is a very hot day thus far!
Terrain: Rolling Hills to Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So we finally left Sebree at about 1:30 pm when the rain subsided and the sun began to shine! It turned out to be a beautiful ride with many rolling hills and lots of horses along the way. We had our first rest stop at about 20ish miles had a snack and moved on. Then we came to a little town in Marion, KY and saw the trailer pulled over at a gas station which was our second rest stop. One of the locals that own a café in this restaurant offered to treat us all to dinner since it was about 5:00 by this time. He thought what we were doing was really neat. The food was great!! Probably some of the best food that we have had on the trip so far. So we had dinner there and knowing that we only had 12 miles to the ferry and Cave in Rock we ate up!! We then left Marion to make the last leg of the trip and it was very fast rolling and mostly downhill due to going down the river bank of the Ohio River. Took the ferry to the other side and camped at Cave in Rock National Park in Illinois. The ferry ride was rather short about 5 minutes or so but still a fun experience. By the time we got to camp it was about 8:00ish and we still had to set up our tents and it was getting dark and the bugs were eating me alive! So I hurried to set my tent up as it was past my bed time, went to the shower house, got a shower which was warm however, it was rather dark in the shower house but I made it work. I then crawled in my tent and went to sleep rather quickly as I was very tired. However, it was a very long night as I must have not set up my tent on very flat ground so my sleeping mat kept sliding to the side of my tent. I think my entire tent etc was slowly sliding down the small hill. I then woke up at about 5:00 am when it started to thunder and become very windy and my tent started really blowing. At this time I went in the trailer and decided it was time to stake my tent down. The wind really started blowing and my stakes shortly were pulled out of the ground. I decided that at this time to just get everything packed up and sit in the restroom. So packed everything in my tent up brought it to the trailer and put it away and then when I went back to tear down my tent, it was gone!! It had blown down the hill and it was still dark out!! So with my head lamp on I headed down the hill and soon found it rather far away. By this time it was pouring down rain, so I grabbed my tent and sailed it back to the trailer, tore it down and went to the restroom. Some of the other riders where there as well, however, none of them had the tent blowing away experience that I did. Waited out the storm and then took off around 8:30 am knowing that we had a fairly long day with 83 miles and hills. It was in my book one of the toughest days as I had not gotten much sleep the night before and it was very hot out. We had some sprinkles of rain throughout the day and we even stopped at a restaurant about 25 miles from Carbondale, IL to get something to eat. They were offering cyclist a free desert. So I took them up and had a piece of coconut cream pie…mmmmmm. We finally arrived at Carbondale, IL after passing two beautiful lakes and are staying at one of the riders from last year, house. They had a small pool set up for us and it was cold water, it felt amazing to jump in. They had lots of food for everyone and everyone just chilled out and had a good time. Everyone chose to sleep inside in the air conditioning and throw their mats on the floor. I slept very well as I was exhausted!! Slept until about 8:30 am had a bite to eat and we are all now just chilling out. We have to be ready at 11:00 am to do our service project of a yard makeover for someone with MS. It is a very hot day thus far!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
June 17th - Rough River Dam, KY to Sebree, KY
Mileage: 75 miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
Was another interesting day! Got up at the campground and had a can of spaghettios for breakfast. Cold of course, I didn’t bring a camp stove along like many of my fellow riders, I figured that I am not the best of cooks at home and for sure would light something on fire out in the nature!! Began to take down my tent and get everything packed up when some people were talking about going back to the lodge and that there was supposed to be a breakfast buffet. I thought this sounded like a good idea and I was still somewhat hungry so went on over to the lodge. Once we got there we found out that there was no buffet and that it was due to low occupancy at the lodge. So we decided to just order breakfast off of the menu. So it was a slow start and we probably didn’t leave the lodge until about 8-9:00 am which was extremely late considering the time change along with it. We had known that it was a 75ish mile day however, were told that it was going to be a fairly easy ride without many big climbs and that it was compared to some of the other days. So we got on the road and got about 30 miles or so out where the first rest stop was and there was a grocery store about a block down the road so took up the opportunity to stock up my pantry as I was really running low on food! Had a peanut butter milkshake while in this small town and then moved on. Came to the next rest stop had a snack and filled up on water and then moved on. As I was riding along had one dog scare the begezers out of me! Was coming down a small hill and it was hiding in some tall weeds and jumped right out at me. It thankfully did not keep chasing me. One of the other riders Brittany was just a little way behind me so I hollered back “Dog!” well she must have not heard me because I heard her scream when it jumped out at her. This one wasn’t a little either. It is kind of strange because we have discovered that it is the little ones that are more of a threat than the big ones. I think that the big dogs just get too tired quickly. We stopped at a stop sign shortly after and Brittany was like “Did you hear me scream like a gir?” I laughed!
I think it was yesterday that Brittany and myself were riding along and we came upon one of the young guys riding with us standing at the bottom of a long drive way, just sitting on the top tube of his bike and there were about 6-7 dog surrounding him barking at him. He just stood there calm as could be, as we just rode by. I was kind of glad that he was there to distract the dogs so that they wouldn’t mess with me. He had this little video camera called the “Go Pro” on his helmet which gets passed around and was recording the entire thing. Well as he tried to take off later on one of the dogs nipped at him and drew blood. Unfortunately he had shut the Go Pro off before he had taken off. The video is crazy though as all you can hear are dogs barking nonstop.
Kept riding and about 15 miles later one of our fellow riders stated that they were running low on water so we stopped at a gas station along the way and got an Icee as well due to the very hot conditions. Some other riders from our group stopped here as well and stated that there was a storm rolling in. We were just 8 miles out from Sebree, so decided to make a break for it. Turns out that as we turned to the other side of the gas station and started up the road that we were headed right for a very dark storm. We rode about 4 miles looking for shelter as we knew that any minute it was going to start down pouring! We found a little smoke shack at a Tyson Hatchery and took cover. As soon as we stepped in it started to down pour!! Waited it out for about 30-45 minutes here and then it was just sprinkling so decided to make a break for Sebree. Got into town and went to the First Baptist Church where we were staying for the night. They host about 275 cross country cyclist a year and the pastors’ wife cooks for about 245 of them. So she had cooked us all a wonderful meal. However, I wasn’t to hungry because when we got into town I had a milkshake for a local restaurant that was rated by our guide Pepper as the best along the route. I had Reeses and would have to say it is probably the best milkshake I have evey had, it was delicious!! So there was a swimming pool in town here in Sebree until about 2001 when it was shut down. Many cyclists passing through would stop there to shower, camp in the yard and Violet, the pastors’ wife would cook for them. Well once it was shut down the cyclist passing through had no place to stay so in 2002 they built a wonderful addition to their church with a shower!! I was thrilled because it was warm. It seems to be that in many cases the showers that we do get are ICE COLD. So it was WONDERFUL to have a warm shower!! Now they host cyclist and have a lounge downstairs and kitchen and a wonderful eating area upstairs. It is so nice of Violet to do this for cyclist, it seems that she really enjoys doing this for cyclist and hearing their stories and she has many stories to tell as well. She told us and showed picture of a unicyclist that Pepper met that came through here last year. I thought this was amazing because a unicycle is only single speed and could not imagine climbing hill on one of these. He is the one that Pepper asked how many crashes he had and the unicyclist stated that they don’t have crashes on UPD’s also known as unplanned dismounts. Violet also spoke about a paraplegic that rode a hand cycle across America that they hosted and many others on very unique bikes. She also stated that we are some of the early one and that in a few weeks she will be hosting many more cyclist that are coming from the West coast to East. However, she has already had many cyclists that are going East to West as we are.
The day became even more interesting when the pastor had offered to take us to a local place where on Friday and Saturday night they have locals playing country and gospel music. He offered to take us in the church van and it was only about a 2 mile ride however, many of us did not want to have to get back on our bikes. We really didn’t know what to expect but figured what the heck. We arrived and to say the least it wasn’t exactly what we had thought it was. However, the musicians were good musicians and singers however; we were some of the youngest people there. There were probably about 60 or so people there and many of the older men had asked some of us younger women to dance. Well one older guy asked me to dance and I was like what the heck sure! He taught me how to do the two step and travel which I guess is two stepping backwards. We soon realized that none of the guys in our group were dancing and once we left realized that it was because many of the people were very traditional and the guys were supposed to ask the women to dance. It was not exactly what we expected but we all sure did have fun with it!! One of the girls in our group even got up and sang a song for everyone. The pastor told us that it was just a bunch of locals playing music, it wasn’t a group just whoever could come and play along with the group. The pastor brought us back to the church where we slept inside in the VERY nice facility at about 9:30 pm and where we all slept very well. Woke up this morning about 6:00 am to realize that it is storming so I figured that I would get caught up on this blog. It is now about 7:15 am and it has been raining, lightening and thundering for a while and is supposed to be until about 11:00 am or so. It is supposed to be a fairly short ride being about a 55 mile day to the Ohio River where we take a ferry across and cross into Illinois. This is especially exciting as we are going to be in our third state!! I think I was wrong earlier in the blog when I stated how many riding days we have until our rest day, anyway, today is Saturday we ride Sunday as well and Monday is our rest day. So two more riding days and then a rest day. Tonight we are staying at a state park in Cave and Rock and it sounds like there is a lot of neat stuff to see there and along the river!! Should be another interesting day!!
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
Was another interesting day! Got up at the campground and had a can of spaghettios for breakfast. Cold of course, I didn’t bring a camp stove along like many of my fellow riders, I figured that I am not the best of cooks at home and for sure would light something on fire out in the nature!! Began to take down my tent and get everything packed up when some people were talking about going back to the lodge and that there was supposed to be a breakfast buffet. I thought this sounded like a good idea and I was still somewhat hungry so went on over to the lodge. Once we got there we found out that there was no buffet and that it was due to low occupancy at the lodge. So we decided to just order breakfast off of the menu. So it was a slow start and we probably didn’t leave the lodge until about 8-9:00 am which was extremely late considering the time change along with it. We had known that it was a 75ish mile day however, were told that it was going to be a fairly easy ride without many big climbs and that it was compared to some of the other days. So we got on the road and got about 30 miles or so out where the first rest stop was and there was a grocery store about a block down the road so took up the opportunity to stock up my pantry as I was really running low on food! Had a peanut butter milkshake while in this small town and then moved on. Came to the next rest stop had a snack and filled up on water and then moved on. As I was riding along had one dog scare the begezers out of me! Was coming down a small hill and it was hiding in some tall weeds and jumped right out at me. It thankfully did not keep chasing me. One of the other riders Brittany was just a little way behind me so I hollered back “Dog!” well she must have not heard me because I heard her scream when it jumped out at her. This one wasn’t a little either. It is kind of strange because we have discovered that it is the little ones that are more of a threat than the big ones. I think that the big dogs just get too tired quickly. We stopped at a stop sign shortly after and Brittany was like “Did you hear me scream like a gir?” I laughed!
I think it was yesterday that Brittany and myself were riding along and we came upon one of the young guys riding with us standing at the bottom of a long drive way, just sitting on the top tube of his bike and there were about 6-7 dog surrounding him barking at him. He just stood there calm as could be, as we just rode by. I was kind of glad that he was there to distract the dogs so that they wouldn’t mess with me. He had this little video camera called the “Go Pro” on his helmet which gets passed around and was recording the entire thing. Well as he tried to take off later on one of the dogs nipped at him and drew blood. Unfortunately he had shut the Go Pro off before he had taken off. The video is crazy though as all you can hear are dogs barking nonstop.
Kept riding and about 15 miles later one of our fellow riders stated that they were running low on water so we stopped at a gas station along the way and got an Icee as well due to the very hot conditions. Some other riders from our group stopped here as well and stated that there was a storm rolling in. We were just 8 miles out from Sebree, so decided to make a break for it. Turns out that as we turned to the other side of the gas station and started up the road that we were headed right for a very dark storm. We rode about 4 miles looking for shelter as we knew that any minute it was going to start down pouring! We found a little smoke shack at a Tyson Hatchery and took cover. As soon as we stepped in it started to down pour!! Waited it out for about 30-45 minutes here and then it was just sprinkling so decided to make a break for Sebree. Got into town and went to the First Baptist Church where we were staying for the night. They host about 275 cross country cyclist a year and the pastors’ wife cooks for about 245 of them. So she had cooked us all a wonderful meal. However, I wasn’t to hungry because when we got into town I had a milkshake for a local restaurant that was rated by our guide Pepper as the best along the route. I had Reeses and would have to say it is probably the best milkshake I have evey had, it was delicious!! So there was a swimming pool in town here in Sebree until about 2001 when it was shut down. Many cyclists passing through would stop there to shower, camp in the yard and Violet, the pastors’ wife would cook for them. Well once it was shut down the cyclist passing through had no place to stay so in 2002 they built a wonderful addition to their church with a shower!! I was thrilled because it was warm. It seems to be that in many cases the showers that we do get are ICE COLD. So it was WONDERFUL to have a warm shower!! Now they host cyclist and have a lounge downstairs and kitchen and a wonderful eating area upstairs. It is so nice of Violet to do this for cyclist, it seems that she really enjoys doing this for cyclist and hearing their stories and she has many stories to tell as well. She told us and showed picture of a unicyclist that Pepper met that came through here last year. I thought this was amazing because a unicycle is only single speed and could not imagine climbing hill on one of these. He is the one that Pepper asked how many crashes he had and the unicyclist stated that they don’t have crashes on UPD’s also known as unplanned dismounts. Violet also spoke about a paraplegic that rode a hand cycle across America that they hosted and many others on very unique bikes. She also stated that we are some of the early one and that in a few weeks she will be hosting many more cyclist that are coming from the West coast to East. However, she has already had many cyclists that are going East to West as we are.
The day became even more interesting when the pastor had offered to take us to a local place where on Friday and Saturday night they have locals playing country and gospel music. He offered to take us in the church van and it was only about a 2 mile ride however, many of us did not want to have to get back on our bikes. We really didn’t know what to expect but figured what the heck. We arrived and to say the least it wasn’t exactly what we had thought it was. However, the musicians were good musicians and singers however; we were some of the youngest people there. There were probably about 60 or so people there and many of the older men had asked some of us younger women to dance. Well one older guy asked me to dance and I was like what the heck sure! He taught me how to do the two step and travel which I guess is two stepping backwards. We soon realized that none of the guys in our group were dancing and once we left realized that it was because many of the people were very traditional and the guys were supposed to ask the women to dance. It was not exactly what we expected but we all sure did have fun with it!! One of the girls in our group even got up and sang a song for everyone. The pastor told us that it was just a bunch of locals playing music, it wasn’t a group just whoever could come and play along with the group. The pastor brought us back to the church where we slept inside in the VERY nice facility at about 9:30 pm and where we all slept very well. Woke up this morning about 6:00 am to realize that it is storming so I figured that I would get caught up on this blog. It is now about 7:15 am and it has been raining, lightening and thundering for a while and is supposed to be until about 11:00 am or so. It is supposed to be a fairly short ride being about a 55 mile day to the Ohio River where we take a ferry across and cross into Illinois. This is especially exciting as we are going to be in our third state!! I think I was wrong earlier in the blog when I stated how many riding days we have until our rest day, anyway, today is Saturday we ride Sunday as well and Monday is our rest day. So two more riding days and then a rest day. Tonight we are staying at a state park in Cave and Rock and it sounds like there is a lot of neat stuff to see there and along the river!! Should be another interesting day!!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
June 16th - Hogenville, KY to Rough River Dam, KY
Mileage: 55
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 88 ish degrees
Woke up today and it was a slow start to the day. I had slept in the gym last night and not too many people choose to sleep there, many people set up their tents so it didn’t take me long to get everything packed up and ready to go. One of the girls that was riding with us was only able to do the first 16 days with us due to her work and was originally planning on doing the whole thing so she left us today and now it is just the 16 of us that are ridding the entire thing left. Her dad came to pick her up and is a cyclist so the two of them rode with us for the first 30 miles and then they turned around and headed home. I rode with Amber a lot and she was tons of fun and we are all sad to see her go!! We were informed that the first rest stop was supposed to be around 35 miles out which was between Hardin County and Breckinridge County which is actually the line of the time change which was very exciting!! We were also informed that right before that line that there was a very steep climb. There is Rough River that goes down and then you have to go back up it on the other side right before this line. Got to this hill and it was a series of about 3 and the grade was 16% to 18% however it was fairly short but still a breath taker!! Stopped here for a while chilled out and then rode the last 20ish miles to Rough River Dam State Park where we are camping. Did some laundry and got a shower and then went to their lodge where I am now sitting in some wonderful air conditioning and where we are all going to eat at the buffet!! We are going to clear them out!! Oh more exciting news is that tomorrow we are going to be over 1000 miles for the trip!! It sure has been a quick 1000 miles!!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 88 ish degrees
Woke up today and it was a slow start to the day. I had slept in the gym last night and not too many people choose to sleep there, many people set up their tents so it didn’t take me long to get everything packed up and ready to go. One of the girls that was riding with us was only able to do the first 16 days with us due to her work and was originally planning on doing the whole thing so she left us today and now it is just the 16 of us that are ridding the entire thing left. Her dad came to pick her up and is a cyclist so the two of them rode with us for the first 30 miles and then they turned around and headed home. I rode with Amber a lot and she was tons of fun and we are all sad to see her go!! We were informed that the first rest stop was supposed to be around 35 miles out which was between Hardin County and Breckinridge County which is actually the line of the time change which was very exciting!! We were also informed that right before that line that there was a very steep climb. There is Rough River that goes down and then you have to go back up it on the other side right before this line. Got to this hill and it was a series of about 3 and the grade was 16% to 18% however it was fairly short but still a breath taker!! Stopped here for a while chilled out and then rode the last 20ish miles to Rough River Dam State Park where we are camping. Did some laundry and got a shower and then went to their lodge where I am now sitting in some wonderful air conditioning and where we are all going to eat at the buffet!! We are going to clear them out!! Oh more exciting news is that tomorrow we are going to be over 1000 miles for the trip!! It sure has been a quick 1000 miles!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
June 14 – 15th - Berea, KY to Bardstown, KY to Hogenville, KY
Mileage: 95ish, 40ish
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 77 ish degrees
Woke up knowing that I had a long day ahead of me being a little over 90 miles. Got on the road at about 7:45 am and the first water stop was supposed to be about 35 miles out well kept riding and about 35 miles realized that there was no water stop so pulled over at a closed small town store and had a cliff bar to eat, man am I getting tired of force feeding myself cliff bars!! We then realized that we were almost out of water so looked around and found a spicket behind the house next door filled up and were on our way. At about mile 46 we came into a town and had a rest and then moved on. We also found out that one of our fellow riders had tipped over there bike and scrapped up there arm so that is why they weren’t at the first water stop. As we were riding along we saw the mini van (we have 2 support vehicles a mini van and then the big van and trailer) along side of the rode with some of our riders. Found out that one of the older guys had two dogs come out and chase him and one got caught up under his wheel and threw him off of his bike. They took him to the ER to have him checked out and nothing but scrapes. He was lucky enough to be dismissed to ride. One of our fellow riders went to the door and no one was home to inform of their dogs unruly activity. Rode on and at about mile 75 came upon Lincolns’ Parents homestead which was where the 3rd water was supposed to be, and no one was there so I had some food from my bag used the restrooms there and then the trailer showed up as we were pulling out. Stopped said hey and began moving on. We find things to keep ourselves entertained along the way and one of our fellow riders, Ethan, was riding along and all of the sudden a ground hog came out of its hole and must have hissed at him and scared him so we joked around about it for a while and tease him about the ground hog hissing at him continually. By mile 80 I was getting pretty tired and then finally I could tell that we were getting to the outskirts of Bardstown, KY we decided that it was necessary to hit up a tavern in this town since we had been through dry towns for the last almost week. Got some food and chilled out due to the trailer not being at the park that we were staying at. Chilled out there with many of our fellow riders for a few hours and then decided that we still had not eaten enough and were getting hungry again so stopped by McDonalds for some ice cream and then went to the park and by this time it was about 9:00 pm got my tent set up grabbed a quick shower and went to bed. It was a long fun day of touring!!
Woke up this morning at about 5:45 am and went to the rest room realized no one was up yet and went back to bed. We had discussed that since today was going to be a short day of an estimated 44 miles that there was no need to rush out in the morning and that we had plenty of time. However, we are supposed to have all of our stuff in the trailer by 8:00 am so figured we would do this and then get breakfast somewhere in town. Well woke up again at about 7:00 am peaked out of my tent and realized that the majority of people had already packed up their tents and were getting ready to head out. I was so confused and then found out that a storm was rolling in very quickly. Began frantically getting my things together and about 7:45 am it started to rain very hard. This was just as I had begun to take down my tent. So some of my fellow riders had already gone to McDonalds down the road to get breakfast and wait out the rain. I had decided that it was raining and lightening too hard and just rode up to the welcome/ gift shop for the park/golf course that we were staying at. Hung out there with some of my fellow riders for about three hours and watched the weather. It was rather comfy there with comfy couches and coffee. Then decided that most of the storm was through and took off for the first and only rest stop at 27 miles. Discussed that there wasn’t a lot to do in the town where we are staying and someone had asked if it was another dry town. Our guide didn’t know but had pointed out that there was a liquor store right across the street so some of my fellow riders took up the opportunity to get some bourbon which is distilled in the area. (Once we got into town found out that it was once again a dry county.) Had a bite to eat and then road 10 miles to a BP station that one of our fellow riders who was ahead of us had tweeted us that they had make your own soft serve ice cream cones for a dollar. So we thought we had to have some stopped and had a very large ice cream cone chilled out and talked to some locals and quoting one of the toothless locals “Yeah, Kentucky’s a shit hole.” Needless to say, the country side has actually turned out to be quite beautiful and more so as we go west. Also I failed to mention eastern Kentucky has many coal mines and the trucks are known to be terrible and ruthless. We were very lucky to get this part of the state out of the way on a Saturday and Sunday. Finally we got to the pavilion that we are staying at outside of a school, got a shower inside the school and found out that we can lay our sleeping mats out in the gym after 9:00 pm once they are done playing basketball. Had some dinner, PB&J on 12 grain bread…mmmmmmm!!!!!! Getting ready for bed tomorrow, should be a fairly short day tomorrow of 50 some miles with a few challenging hills with grades up to 17%!!! Things are really starting to flatten out, defiantly not flat but not as long or big of hills as previously. Three more ridding days and we will be in Carbondale, IL and then have a rest day on Sunday. I cannot believe that soon we will be in our third state!!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 77 ish degrees
Woke up knowing that I had a long day ahead of me being a little over 90 miles. Got on the road at about 7:45 am and the first water stop was supposed to be about 35 miles out well kept riding and about 35 miles realized that there was no water stop so pulled over at a closed small town store and had a cliff bar to eat, man am I getting tired of force feeding myself cliff bars!! We then realized that we were almost out of water so looked around and found a spicket behind the house next door filled up and were on our way. At about mile 46 we came into a town and had a rest and then moved on. We also found out that one of our fellow riders had tipped over there bike and scrapped up there arm so that is why they weren’t at the first water stop. As we were riding along we saw the mini van (we have 2 support vehicles a mini van and then the big van and trailer) along side of the rode with some of our riders. Found out that one of the older guys had two dogs come out and chase him and one got caught up under his wheel and threw him off of his bike. They took him to the ER to have him checked out and nothing but scrapes. He was lucky enough to be dismissed to ride. One of our fellow riders went to the door and no one was home to inform of their dogs unruly activity. Rode on and at about mile 75 came upon Lincolns’ Parents homestead which was where the 3rd water was supposed to be, and no one was there so I had some food from my bag used the restrooms there and then the trailer showed up as we were pulling out. Stopped said hey and began moving on. We find things to keep ourselves entertained along the way and one of our fellow riders, Ethan, was riding along and all of the sudden a ground hog came out of its hole and must have hissed at him and scared him so we joked around about it for a while and tease him about the ground hog hissing at him continually. By mile 80 I was getting pretty tired and then finally I could tell that we were getting to the outskirts of Bardstown, KY we decided that it was necessary to hit up a tavern in this town since we had been through dry towns for the last almost week. Got some food and chilled out due to the trailer not being at the park that we were staying at. Chilled out there with many of our fellow riders for a few hours and then decided that we still had not eaten enough and were getting hungry again so stopped by McDonalds for some ice cream and then went to the park and by this time it was about 9:00 pm got my tent set up grabbed a quick shower and went to bed. It was a long fun day of touring!!
Woke up this morning at about 5:45 am and went to the rest room realized no one was up yet and went back to bed. We had discussed that since today was going to be a short day of an estimated 44 miles that there was no need to rush out in the morning and that we had plenty of time. However, we are supposed to have all of our stuff in the trailer by 8:00 am so figured we would do this and then get breakfast somewhere in town. Well woke up again at about 7:00 am peaked out of my tent and realized that the majority of people had already packed up their tents and were getting ready to head out. I was so confused and then found out that a storm was rolling in very quickly. Began frantically getting my things together and about 7:45 am it started to rain very hard. This was just as I had begun to take down my tent. So some of my fellow riders had already gone to McDonalds down the road to get breakfast and wait out the rain. I had decided that it was raining and lightening too hard and just rode up to the welcome/ gift shop for the park/golf course that we were staying at. Hung out there with some of my fellow riders for about three hours and watched the weather. It was rather comfy there with comfy couches and coffee. Then decided that most of the storm was through and took off for the first and only rest stop at 27 miles. Discussed that there wasn’t a lot to do in the town where we are staying and someone had asked if it was another dry town. Our guide didn’t know but had pointed out that there was a liquor store right across the street so some of my fellow riders took up the opportunity to get some bourbon which is distilled in the area. (Once we got into town found out that it was once again a dry county.) Had a bite to eat and then road 10 miles to a BP station that one of our fellow riders who was ahead of us had tweeted us that they had make your own soft serve ice cream cones for a dollar. So we thought we had to have some stopped and had a very large ice cream cone chilled out and talked to some locals and quoting one of the toothless locals “Yeah, Kentucky’s a shit hole.” Needless to say, the country side has actually turned out to be quite beautiful and more so as we go west. Also I failed to mention eastern Kentucky has many coal mines and the trucks are known to be terrible and ruthless. We were very lucky to get this part of the state out of the way on a Saturday and Sunday. Finally we got to the pavilion that we are staying at outside of a school, got a shower inside the school and found out that we can lay our sleeping mats out in the gym after 9:00 pm once they are done playing basketball. Had some dinner, PB&J on 12 grain bread…mmmmmmm!!!!!! Getting ready for bed tomorrow, should be a fairly short day tomorrow of 50 some miles with a few challenging hills with grades up to 17%!!! Things are really starting to flatten out, defiantly not flat but not as long or big of hills as previously. Three more ridding days and we will be in Carbondale, IL and then have a rest day on Sunday. I cannot believe that soon we will be in our third state!!
Monday, June 13, 2011
Video!!
Here is the video that they made for our first week cross country!! I am in it however, you just cannot tell that it is me in some of the clips because they are moving so fast....lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2NcCU80bCA
June 13th - Booneville, KY to Berea, KY
Mileage: 50
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 77 ish degrees
Got up this morning got my tent all packed up and got on the road at about 7:45 am knowing that it was going to be a short day of only 50 miles. There was some confusion getting out of town due to a detour however, we got directions that were better and shorter than the detour from a local. We felt that this detour that we think should be part of the Adventure Cycling route however; Adventure Cycling doesn’t want to change it because it has been part of the route since 1976. It was still a very hilly ride throughout the day however; the hills are not as tall as some of the previous ones. We had only one rest stop today, where I stopped filled up with water and had a popsicle. Also got chased by many dogs today I think the total count is somewhere around 10 now. There are tons of dogs here many on chains, many who stand beside the road and bark, many on chains, many behind fences, many who just lay there and stare and many more who feel the need to chase you and growl and bite at your foot and or wheel. There was once time that I had 4 dogs on my wheel. We then moved on did a few more climbs and then finally got to the top of our last climb stopped at the top and one of the girls I have been riding with pulled over with me because I was getting hungry. I stopped and asked her “So do you think we have 3G service yet?” We were only about 5 miles out from Berea which has a much larger population than most of the towns we have been staying in. So we both pulled our phones out of our handlebar bags looked and were overjoyed with excitement!! Finally, service, which we haven’t had in a mere 2 days!! We then descended our last hill out of Bighill, KY and arrived in Berea where we are tenting at their firehouse. Berea seems to be a nicer town than some of the ones we have gone through thus far in KY, however, it is still a dry county as many are that we have gone through. There was also a detour getting into Berea however, we got a tweet with twitter from one of the guides and made it into town with no problems. Got to camp and turned around with some of the others and rode about a mile back into town and ate at a pizza place that had great pizza. Chilled out there and then came back here got a lovely shower and set up my tent. Today is a much cooler day and we got in much earlier than normally. Tomorrow however, is going to be a much longer day with 90 miles so we must get on the road earlier.
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 77 ish degrees
Got up this morning got my tent all packed up and got on the road at about 7:45 am knowing that it was going to be a short day of only 50 miles. There was some confusion getting out of town due to a detour however, we got directions that were better and shorter than the detour from a local. We felt that this detour that we think should be part of the Adventure Cycling route however; Adventure Cycling doesn’t want to change it because it has been part of the route since 1976. It was still a very hilly ride throughout the day however; the hills are not as tall as some of the previous ones. We had only one rest stop today, where I stopped filled up with water and had a popsicle. Also got chased by many dogs today I think the total count is somewhere around 10 now. There are tons of dogs here many on chains, many who stand beside the road and bark, many on chains, many behind fences, many who just lay there and stare and many more who feel the need to chase you and growl and bite at your foot and or wheel. There was once time that I had 4 dogs on my wheel. We then moved on did a few more climbs and then finally got to the top of our last climb stopped at the top and one of the girls I have been riding with pulled over with me because I was getting hungry. I stopped and asked her “So do you think we have 3G service yet?” We were only about 5 miles out from Berea which has a much larger population than most of the towns we have been staying in. So we both pulled our phones out of our handlebar bags looked and were overjoyed with excitement!! Finally, service, which we haven’t had in a mere 2 days!! We then descended our last hill out of Bighill, KY and arrived in Berea where we are tenting at their firehouse. Berea seems to be a nicer town than some of the ones we have gone through thus far in KY, however, it is still a dry county as many are that we have gone through. There was also a detour getting into Berea however, we got a tweet with twitter from one of the guides and made it into town with no problems. Got to camp and turned around with some of the others and rode about a mile back into town and ate at a pizza place that had great pizza. Chilled out there and then came back here got a lovely shower and set up my tent. Today is a much cooler day and we got in much earlier than normally. Tomorrow however, is going to be a much longer day with 90 miles so we must get on the road earlier.
June 12th – Hindman, KY to Booneville, KY
Mileage: 64 ish
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 95 ish degrees
Woke up this morning at the youth center and it was raining. Not extremely hard so we decided to go for it! We got on the road at about 7:30 am and within about a half hour it had stopped raining and the sun started shinning and it became very hot very quickly. The hills in KY so far have been very gradual but long so we started our ascending and descending for the day and about 20 miles out we found our first stop which was at a Wal-Mart. We all stocked up on food and our group leaders were even making pancakes for us in the parking lot by the trailer. We spent probably about an hour and a half at this stop. We have been joking around about how it takes us twice as long to get to where we are going due to all of the stopping that we do. We then decided to keep moving on, made a stop at a place some of our fellow riders were getting ice cream at, didn’t get any though and kept moving on. Stopped at our last provided water stop, had a snack and moved on. We then decided that it was time to get to camp. There was lots of climbing still yet to go though. Finally, we got to camp and are staying behind a Presbyterian church. This is along the adventure cycling route and they have allowed many cyclist to stay here previously, they have even built a small single shower house with a real shower head instead of a hose, however, it is still cold water. Currently there are also 3 other girls and also a couple that are doing cross country self contained. So I then set up my tent and got a cold, refreshing shower!! Then went down to a small mom and pop shop and got dinner, food wasn’t so good but there peach cobbler was!! Now I am waiting in line to get my chain cleaned and then heading to bed. Supposed to be a shorter day with only about 50 miles to go tomorrow!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 95 ish degrees
Woke up this morning at the youth center and it was raining. Not extremely hard so we decided to go for it! We got on the road at about 7:30 am and within about a half hour it had stopped raining and the sun started shinning and it became very hot very quickly. The hills in KY so far have been very gradual but long so we started our ascending and descending for the day and about 20 miles out we found our first stop which was at a Wal-Mart. We all stocked up on food and our group leaders were even making pancakes for us in the parking lot by the trailer. We spent probably about an hour and a half at this stop. We have been joking around about how it takes us twice as long to get to where we are going due to all of the stopping that we do. We then decided to keep moving on, made a stop at a place some of our fellow riders were getting ice cream at, didn’t get any though and kept moving on. Stopped at our last provided water stop, had a snack and moved on. We then decided that it was time to get to camp. There was lots of climbing still yet to go though. Finally, we got to camp and are staying behind a Presbyterian church. This is along the adventure cycling route and they have allowed many cyclist to stay here previously, they have even built a small single shower house with a real shower head instead of a hose, however, it is still cold water. Currently there are also 3 other girls and also a couple that are doing cross country self contained. So I then set up my tent and got a cold, refreshing shower!! Then went down to a small mom and pop shop and got dinner, food wasn’t so good but there peach cobbler was!! Now I am waiting in line to get my chain cleaned and then heading to bed. Supposed to be a shorter day with only about 50 miles to go tomorrow!
June 10-11th – Rosedale, VA to Breaks, VA to Hindman, KY
Mileage: 48 miles, 72 miles
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
On the morning of June 10th I woke up at the church where I slept very well. They had really thick carpeting in the church that was much more comfortable with my sleeping pad, it was quiet and cool. We then began our adventure to Breaks National Park which is on the Virginia Kentucky border!! I was so excited to almost be to Kentucky, it is finally feeling like I/ we are making progress. It was a shorter ride than many of the previous days with only 48 miles. I was thankful for this after coming out of two very long hard days. However, even though it was shorter I was still in for a treat with the monstrous hills!! Surprisingly I am actually getting used to the hills because you get a break from pedaling and really feel like you accomplished something after you get to the top. You feel like you concurred it!! We got to Breaks National Park and stayed at the campground there. I was happy to get a shower since I had not gotten one the night before and only used a hose to wash my hair. So I went straight to the shower house and got a nice refreshing shower. I was excited to get in earlier as many days we don’t get in till the afternoon due to the many stops and things to see along the way. Also because there is usually nothing to do once you get where I am sleeping. So really there is no rush! So I hung around camp for the rest of the evening and then went to the lodge where many people in our group had gone and had a small bite to eat as I had already eaten a ton from my food pantry.
This morning, June 11th I got up and we hit the road at about 8:00 am for the KY border. Of course we had to stop shortly to take pictures!! We then moved on and knew that we had 5 big climbs for the day as we had previously looked at the elevation profile. We also felt it necessary to start counting dogs chasing us and giving them ratings as well based on how threatening they are. So it is known to cyclist that KY has many dogs that are not chained and it was CRAZY how true this is because we did not have one single dog chase us in VA and now that we are in KY there have been tons of dogs along the road barking at us and a few chasing. So we are only counting the ones that are a threat and it has been 3. There is a spray that cyclist use called “HALT” and many of the cyclist have it and one of the girls had to use it today, it was quite the experience. Also I hate to say it but KY isn’t as well kept as VA, there is a lot more garbage in the ditches and houses/trailers are not well kept in the areas we are going through. We road for about 20 miles or so and then stopped at our first provided rest stop, had a snack got some water and moved on to the next stop which was in Bevinsville and we ate at a small mom and pop shop and then moved on knowing that we had 2 more climbs of the day. So the speed for the day was either 5 mph when climbing up or 25+ mph when going down, it was kind of nice to get a break from pedaling and sail through the hills on the way down, also a great way to cool off as by the time you get to the top of these hills you are dripping sweat!! Finally, we arrived in Hindman where we are staying at a church’s youth center and good news, they have one shower. I was very excited when I found this out because on our way in to Hindman, KY when we were about 3 miles out it started to down pour so we had to stop under a shelter by a barn to avoid the down pour. We waited there for about 20 minutes until we decided that the rain had slowed down enough to ride the last 3 miles to the youth center. I didn’t want the rain to be my only shower of the day!! Once I got here I got a shower and set up my sleeping mat and got a bite to eat. It has now stopped raining and I am contemplating putting my bike in the stand they have set up outside for bikes and starting to clean it. It really does need some tender loving care as it is disgustingly dirty and has tons of break dust all over it and grime from the rain that I have been riding in. I am going to need new brake pads in a few weeks as I have been using them a lot with all of the amazing descents!! Still more climbing to come!!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
On the morning of June 10th I woke up at the church where I slept very well. They had really thick carpeting in the church that was much more comfortable with my sleeping pad, it was quiet and cool. We then began our adventure to Breaks National Park which is on the Virginia Kentucky border!! I was so excited to almost be to Kentucky, it is finally feeling like I/ we are making progress. It was a shorter ride than many of the previous days with only 48 miles. I was thankful for this after coming out of two very long hard days. However, even though it was shorter I was still in for a treat with the monstrous hills!! Surprisingly I am actually getting used to the hills because you get a break from pedaling and really feel like you accomplished something after you get to the top. You feel like you concurred it!! We got to Breaks National Park and stayed at the campground there. I was happy to get a shower since I had not gotten one the night before and only used a hose to wash my hair. So I went straight to the shower house and got a nice refreshing shower. I was excited to get in earlier as many days we don’t get in till the afternoon due to the many stops and things to see along the way. Also because there is usually nothing to do once you get where I am sleeping. So really there is no rush! So I hung around camp for the rest of the evening and then went to the lodge where many people in our group had gone and had a small bite to eat as I had already eaten a ton from my food pantry.
This morning, June 11th I got up and we hit the road at about 8:00 am for the KY border. Of course we had to stop shortly to take pictures!! We then moved on and knew that we had 5 big climbs for the day as we had previously looked at the elevation profile. We also felt it necessary to start counting dogs chasing us and giving them ratings as well based on how threatening they are. So it is known to cyclist that KY has many dogs that are not chained and it was CRAZY how true this is because we did not have one single dog chase us in VA and now that we are in KY there have been tons of dogs along the road barking at us and a few chasing. So we are only counting the ones that are a threat and it has been 3. There is a spray that cyclist use called “HALT” and many of the cyclist have it and one of the girls had to use it today, it was quite the experience. Also I hate to say it but KY isn’t as well kept as VA, there is a lot more garbage in the ditches and houses/trailers are not well kept in the areas we are going through. We road for about 20 miles or so and then stopped at our first provided rest stop, had a snack got some water and moved on to the next stop which was in Bevinsville and we ate at a small mom and pop shop and then moved on knowing that we had 2 more climbs of the day. So the speed for the day was either 5 mph when climbing up or 25+ mph when going down, it was kind of nice to get a break from pedaling and sail through the hills on the way down, also a great way to cool off as by the time you get to the top of these hills you are dripping sweat!! Finally, we arrived in Hindman where we are staying at a church’s youth center and good news, they have one shower. I was very excited when I found this out because on our way in to Hindman, KY when we were about 3 miles out it started to down pour so we had to stop under a shelter by a barn to avoid the down pour. We waited there for about 20 minutes until we decided that the rain had slowed down enough to ride the last 3 miles to the youth center. I didn’t want the rain to be my only shower of the day!! Once I got here I got a shower and set up my sleeping mat and got a bite to eat. It has now stopped raining and I am contemplating putting my bike in the stand they have set up outside for bikes and starting to clean it. It really does need some tender loving care as it is disgustingly dirty and has tons of break dust all over it and grime from the rain that I have been riding in. I am going to need new brake pads in a few weeks as I have been using them a lot with all of the amazing descents!! Still more climbing to come!!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
No Internet Access
This is Renee posting on Julie's behalf. I talked to her briefly tonight and she has not had Internet access for the last few days. She has her blogs written and will post them as soon as she is able to get online (hopefully tomorrow). Stay tuned!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
June 7-9th – Blacksburg, VA to Rural Retreat, VA to Rosedale, VA
Mileage: 85 ish miles, 80 ish miles
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
On June 7th there was a rest day and we went to two different houses and did yard makeovers. The one house was like a jungle and there were many overgrown trees and LOTS of poison ivy. I now itch everywhere and am not sure if I am developing poison ivy or otherwise I have tons of big bites. So then on the night of the 7th we grilled out at Mason’s house and got a good night sleep!! On the morning of the 8th we got up and were on the road to Rural Retreat at 8:00 am. We road about 40ish miles and then stopped in Wytheville at a truck stop and ate at a buffet! I think that they must have lost money on me due to me eating sooo much!! I also had a new record of top speeds coming out of Blacksburg of 46.6 mph, however, the top speed of one of the guys in the group was 57 mph. One we had lunch we laid under a shade tree and took a nap. After the nap we decided to move on to Rural Retreat where we stayed at a camp for the night. Needless to say it was somewhat of an eventful ride when we got rained on and one of the guys we were riding with had his chain and derailleur get caught up in his wheel Finally we got to the camp and it was back a thick gravel road that was 1.6 miles long so the two vans had to shuttle us to the camp. It reminded me of something like the parent trap camp but not as nice. However, they did have showers and a shelter for us to set up our tents under so that we could stay dry!! I did however wake up in the middle of the night and hear a coyote howling, kind of scary!! We were tucked back in the middle of the mountains in the middle of nowhere and to top it off there was no cell phone service whatsoever!! It was a very long but fun riding day. We have all kind of taken the approach that there is no hurry to get to camp because the trailer usually is bringing up the rear so you would have to sit at camp with nothing to do.
So on the morning of the 9th we woke up and started our journey to Rosedale, VA. We rode about 40 miles to Damascus where our guide Pepper owns Sundog Outfitters and we got to shop and see where he works. We then sat down and ate at a pizza place for lunch and went to the grocery. They parked the van and trailer outside of the grocery so that we could stock up due to not many places to get food for the next few days. We then started on our way to Rosedale from Damascus and about 5 miles out started getting hailed on so we pulled over onto some ones porch and stood around for about 20 minutes until the rain started to subside. About 1 mile down the road we came to a road block, there was a huge tree down and we took some pictures and then threw our bikes over the trunk and kept moving on. On our way to Rosedale we came up to a snapping turtle in the middle of the road and felt that we needed to rescue it and move it to the ditch, so we took some pictures, moved it to the ditch and kept on. So we were warned that about 10 miles from Rosedale there is a huge climb that is 3.5 miles long called Hayters Gap. We stopped at the bottom filled up with water and started our ascent. It wasn’t as bad as what was anticipated. Got to the top and the van and trailer were there with others cheering us on!! Decided to go for the descent and get to the United Methodist Church where we are staying for the night. It was a very eventful day with lots of rain!! Well I am exhausted so I am going to get cleaned up, no showers tonight, and get to bed!! Tomorrow should be a good day with a little bit less mileage at somewhere around 50 miles and we are staying at Breaks, VA which is the border of the VA and KY border! I am excited to cross the border it will feel like we are making progress!!
Terrain: Hilly
Temperature: 90 ish degrees
On June 7th there was a rest day and we went to two different houses and did yard makeovers. The one house was like a jungle and there were many overgrown trees and LOTS of poison ivy. I now itch everywhere and am not sure if I am developing poison ivy or otherwise I have tons of big bites. So then on the night of the 7th we grilled out at Mason’s house and got a good night sleep!! On the morning of the 8th we got up and were on the road to Rural Retreat at 8:00 am. We road about 40ish miles and then stopped in Wytheville at a truck stop and ate at a buffet! I think that they must have lost money on me due to me eating sooo much!! I also had a new record of top speeds coming out of Blacksburg of 46.6 mph, however, the top speed of one of the guys in the group was 57 mph. One we had lunch we laid under a shade tree and took a nap. After the nap we decided to move on to Rural Retreat where we stayed at a camp for the night. Needless to say it was somewhat of an eventful ride when we got rained on and one of the guys we were riding with had his chain and derailleur get caught up in his wheel Finally we got to the camp and it was back a thick gravel road that was 1.6 miles long so the two vans had to shuttle us to the camp. It reminded me of something like the parent trap camp but not as nice. However, they did have showers and a shelter for us to set up our tents under so that we could stay dry!! I did however wake up in the middle of the night and hear a coyote howling, kind of scary!! We were tucked back in the middle of the mountains in the middle of nowhere and to top it off there was no cell phone service whatsoever!! It was a very long but fun riding day. We have all kind of taken the approach that there is no hurry to get to camp because the trailer usually is bringing up the rear so you would have to sit at camp with nothing to do.
So on the morning of the 9th we woke up and started our journey to Rosedale, VA. We rode about 40 miles to Damascus where our guide Pepper owns Sundog Outfitters and we got to shop and see where he works. We then sat down and ate at a pizza place for lunch and went to the grocery. They parked the van and trailer outside of the grocery so that we could stock up due to not many places to get food for the next few days. We then started on our way to Rosedale from Damascus and about 5 miles out started getting hailed on so we pulled over onto some ones porch and stood around for about 20 minutes until the rain started to subside. About 1 mile down the road we came to a road block, there was a huge tree down and we took some pictures and then threw our bikes over the trunk and kept moving on. On our way to Rosedale we came up to a snapping turtle in the middle of the road and felt that we needed to rescue it and move it to the ditch, so we took some pictures, moved it to the ditch and kept on. So we were warned that about 10 miles from Rosedale there is a huge climb that is 3.5 miles long called Hayters Gap. We stopped at the bottom filled up with water and started our ascent. It wasn’t as bad as what was anticipated. Got to the top and the van and trailer were there with others cheering us on!! Decided to go for the descent and get to the United Methodist Church where we are staying for the night. It was a very eventful day with lots of rain!! Well I am exhausted so I am going to get cleaned up, no showers tonight, and get to bed!! Tomorrow should be a good day with a little bit less mileage at somewhere around 50 miles and we are staying at Breaks, VA which is the border of the VA and KY border! I am excited to cross the border it will feel like we are making progress!!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
June 6th – Troutsville, VA to Blacksburg, VA
Mileage: 42 miles
Terrain: Rolling to Hilly
Temperature: 85 ish degrees
Woke up at the park in my tent and was informed that we were all going to try to ride together and leave at 8:00 am due to some other people joining us from Blacksburg. We had to stop many times to regroup and then when we got into Blacksburg one of the girls that rode last year had the restaurant that she works at here have food for us at a pavilion. So we all rode in together and ate and mingled due to quite a few of the riders being from Blacksburg. So then we went back to one of the route leader’s friends house that is for sale and he currently isn’t living here so we are all staying in an empty house, however, we have managed to have stuff everywhere and fill it up!! There is also a washer and dryer here so as soon as we got here were all started a laundry pile and got some wash done. We then got showered and then walked to downtown Blacksburg and had dinner. We ate at a place called Cabo Fish Taco and then stopped at a few other restaurants as well. Downtown Blacksburg is so nice, it is very well kept!! We then walked back to the house we are staying at and went to bed. Got up this morning and Ambers massage therapist is here so I am waiting to get a massage!! It’s about 8:20 now and we are supposed to be ready to go do yard makeovers for two different houses for people who suffer from MS. Then I have heard that we are cooking out this afternoon!
So all of the people on this ride are very nice, I think it draws a specific type of person, everyone is always in a good mood. There are definitely a variety of people on the ride and it has a lot of culture I would say. There are many different age groups and even 3 men that are 65 years old. They are pretty strong riders as well!! We are all getting to know everyone very well and I am sure will get to know each other even more by the end of the trip!! The riders really do make the ride fun!!
Terrain: Rolling to Hilly
Temperature: 85 ish degrees
Woke up at the park in my tent and was informed that we were all going to try to ride together and leave at 8:00 am due to some other people joining us from Blacksburg. We had to stop many times to regroup and then when we got into Blacksburg one of the girls that rode last year had the restaurant that she works at here have food for us at a pavilion. So we all rode in together and ate and mingled due to quite a few of the riders being from Blacksburg. So then we went back to one of the route leader’s friends house that is for sale and he currently isn’t living here so we are all staying in an empty house, however, we have managed to have stuff everywhere and fill it up!! There is also a washer and dryer here so as soon as we got here were all started a laundry pile and got some wash done. We then got showered and then walked to downtown Blacksburg and had dinner. We ate at a place called Cabo Fish Taco and then stopped at a few other restaurants as well. Downtown Blacksburg is so nice, it is very well kept!! We then walked back to the house we are staying at and went to bed. Got up this morning and Ambers massage therapist is here so I am waiting to get a massage!! It’s about 8:20 now and we are supposed to be ready to go do yard makeovers for two different houses for people who suffer from MS. Then I have heard that we are cooking out this afternoon!
So all of the people on this ride are very nice, I think it draws a specific type of person, everyone is always in a good mood. There are definitely a variety of people on the ride and it has a lot of culture I would say. There are many different age groups and even 3 men that are 65 years old. They are pretty strong riders as well!! We are all getting to know everyone very well and I am sure will get to know each other even more by the end of the trip!! The riders really do make the ride fun!!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
June 5th – Vasuvius, VA to Troutsville, VA
Mileage: 65ish miles
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 85 ish degrees
So last night I woke up in the middle of the night and it was raining and thundering!! It was so weird to hear the thunder down in the hills of VA. It sounded nothing like in Ohio, the noise echoed through the trees!! Ruby and I took off at about 8:00 am and the first 20 miles where a gradual downhill so easy riding and they were gorgeous, words or pictures do no justice to what is really out here!! Then we saw the van and trailer at the first rest stop which was in Lexington a cute small little town and we all stopped at a coffee shop and had coffee and bagels. There are a lot of coffee drinkers on this trip! It is really nice to have the van and trailer at scheduled stops due to all of our gear/luggage and food being available to us along the way. We also have what we call the pantry otherwise known as a food cubby to keep food in because there are many times there are not places to stop for food and it also saves money so you don’t have to eat out all the time. We then filled up on water and kept moving along. The next rest stop was at a gas station that we saw the van and trailer and we sat under a shade tree for a while and filled up with water and then moved on the Buchanan, VA and here we all stopped at a small mom and pop restaurant and ate. Well it just happened that they had a two man band playing on this Sunday afternoon, so we chilled out on their patio for a few hours and listened to them for a while knowing that at this point we only had an easy 20 miles till Troutville, VA where we are staying tonight. I was pre warned that there were no showers at this park but restrooms. I am always the first to ask, “Is there showers there?” However, once we rolled in I was informed that the firehouse across the street was so gracious to let us use their showers!! I was SOOO excited after not having a shower last night!! So once we pulled into Troutville we had noticed that the sky was getting pretty dark so we hurried to set up our tents and then took a glorious shower!! I then ate some food that one of my fellow riders girlfriends had brought us to eat and now am sitting in front of the firehouse due to wi-fi being available and an outlet I found on the outside of the building!! So as I am sitting here I hear a train right by the park blowing its whistle and think oh great I get to hear that during the night and it reminds me that there was also a train last night, must be the trend!
Terrain: Rolling Hills
Temperature: 85 ish degrees
So last night I woke up in the middle of the night and it was raining and thundering!! It was so weird to hear the thunder down in the hills of VA. It sounded nothing like in Ohio, the noise echoed through the trees!! Ruby and I took off at about 8:00 am and the first 20 miles where a gradual downhill so easy riding and they were gorgeous, words or pictures do no justice to what is really out here!! Then we saw the van and trailer at the first rest stop which was in Lexington a cute small little town and we all stopped at a coffee shop and had coffee and bagels. There are a lot of coffee drinkers on this trip! It is really nice to have the van and trailer at scheduled stops due to all of our gear/luggage and food being available to us along the way. We also have what we call the pantry otherwise known as a food cubby to keep food in because there are many times there are not places to stop for food and it also saves money so you don’t have to eat out all the time. We then filled up on water and kept moving along. The next rest stop was at a gas station that we saw the van and trailer and we sat under a shade tree for a while and filled up with water and then moved on the Buchanan, VA and here we all stopped at a small mom and pop restaurant and ate. Well it just happened that they had a two man band playing on this Sunday afternoon, so we chilled out on their patio for a few hours and listened to them for a while knowing that at this point we only had an easy 20 miles till Troutville, VA where we are staying tonight. I was pre warned that there were no showers at this park but restrooms. I am always the first to ask, “Is there showers there?” However, once we rolled in I was informed that the firehouse across the street was so gracious to let us use their showers!! I was SOOO excited after not having a shower last night!! So once we pulled into Troutville we had noticed that the sky was getting pretty dark so we hurried to set up our tents and then took a glorious shower!! I then ate some food that one of my fellow riders girlfriends had brought us to eat and now am sitting in front of the firehouse due to wi-fi being available and an outlet I found on the outside of the building!! So as I am sitting here I hear a train right by the park blowing its whistle and think oh great I get to hear that during the night and it reminds me that there was also a train last night, must be the trend!
June 4th – Charlottesville, VA to Vasuvius, VA
Mileage: 47 miles
Terrain: Very Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So this morning Shannons’ parents cooked us breakfast which was great with all the climbing we did. I carbed up and ate tons of pancakes and breakfast food. We then began climbing mt Vesuvius!! So there was about 40 ish miles of climbing, honestly I thought it was going to be a lot steeper climbs however, it was really just gradual climbing all day long. And then we got to the top where we got to descend. The climb there was very beautiful scenery, gorgeous overviews of the hills of the mountains. As I thought climbing up the hills it really is a matter of mind over body. My mind was telling me GO, GO, GO and my body was telling me NO, NO, NO!! But I concurred that darn Vesuvius!! It ended up being 5,000 feet of elevation gain that we climbed!! I found out that short stops were better on my legs because if I did long stops and then got back on the bike and started climbing my lets would BURN BAD. Although they felt like they were on fire most of the day…lol, yet somehow the ride was very enjoyable. Oh yeah, so I was going to say that I have really come to like my handlebar bag, you know the one that I thought I would never own…lol.. however, it is so convenient, you can carry LOTs of food and all kinds of good stuff. You can pick up food and stuff along the route at small town convenience stores etc. So we finally got to descend and it was quite the adrenaline rush. I think that my max speed was 32 mph or something. I am quite sure that I could have gone much faster however; I choose to ride my breaks almost the entire way down. I even stopped half way down for about 5 minutes in order to let my breaks cool down. I like to go fast but not that fast, because it can be very dangerous. So we then coasted into mt Vesuvius to a country store named Gerties. It is a very small store/restaurant. They have people write their names on the walls ceiling anywhere you can find a place. This place is kind of like a small hole in the wall. Very small inside and then this is where we camped at, behind this store in a yard out back. The owners who live next door let us use their hose in order to rinse off. The restroom is a porta potty. Well that’s all for today, tomorrow is going to be about 75 miles so it’s going to be a long day.
Terrain: Very Hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
So this morning Shannons’ parents cooked us breakfast which was great with all the climbing we did. I carbed up and ate tons of pancakes and breakfast food. We then began climbing mt Vesuvius!! So there was about 40 ish miles of climbing, honestly I thought it was going to be a lot steeper climbs however, it was really just gradual climbing all day long. And then we got to the top where we got to descend. The climb there was very beautiful scenery, gorgeous overviews of the hills of the mountains. As I thought climbing up the hills it really is a matter of mind over body. My mind was telling me GO, GO, GO and my body was telling me NO, NO, NO!! But I concurred that darn Vesuvius!! It ended up being 5,000 feet of elevation gain that we climbed!! I found out that short stops were better on my legs because if I did long stops and then got back on the bike and started climbing my lets would BURN BAD. Although they felt like they were on fire most of the day…lol, yet somehow the ride was very enjoyable. Oh yeah, so I was going to say that I have really come to like my handlebar bag, you know the one that I thought I would never own…lol.. however, it is so convenient, you can carry LOTs of food and all kinds of good stuff. You can pick up food and stuff along the route at small town convenience stores etc. So we finally got to descend and it was quite the adrenaline rush. I think that my max speed was 32 mph or something. I am quite sure that I could have gone much faster however; I choose to ride my breaks almost the entire way down. I even stopped half way down for about 5 minutes in order to let my breaks cool down. I like to go fast but not that fast, because it can be very dangerous. So we then coasted into mt Vesuvius to a country store named Gerties. It is a very small store/restaurant. They have people write their names on the walls ceiling anywhere you can find a place. This place is kind of like a small hole in the wall. Very small inside and then this is where we camped at, behind this store in a yard out back. The owners who live next door let us use their hose in order to rinse off. The restroom is a porta potty. Well that’s all for today, tomorrow is going to be about 75 miles so it’s going to be a long day.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
out in the hills in virginia, out in the middle of no where!!
I have a blog typed out however cant post it due to no internet. Will post it tomorrow.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8
Friday, June 3, 2011
June 3rd – Mineral, VA to Charlottesville, VA
Mileage: 65 ish
Terrain: Rolling to hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
OMG, there is sooo much to write about and not enough time!! It is now 10:15 and I have finally found time and internet to write the blog for today and post yesterday’s blog. So this morning I got up around 6:45 am and didn’t leave until about 7:40 am. We had 50 miles until Charlottesville and were informed to be there by 1:30 in order to get to the James Q. Miller MS clinic. It was very hard for me to get out of bed this morning as the firehouse last night was located right by a railroad track and there were about 3 trains that went through. However, in between trains I managed to sleep well. I thought that there was an earth quake going on as the trains went through and the ground shook!! The ride was beautiful country side and pastures! I road along as I munched on combos and fig newtons out of my handlebar bag. On a trip like this you need to eat mass amounts of food b/c you are so rapidly burning calories, it really sucks to have to force feed yourself at times however, it is necessary or you will do what they call and bonk and be completely energy depleted and it is really hard to come out of a bonk. Basically if you are hungry you should have eaten an hour ago and that means it is going to take some time to regain energy eaten by food. We were so happy that we didn’t get lost today it was relieving! We are following bike rout 76 which has been marked a lot better. So we are getting closer to the mountains so that means we are starting to do a lot more climbing……..ahhhh. Oh yeah for anyone who wants to follow us on twitter you can follow us @transAm 2011 this is how we communicate out on the road for example if a road is closed or if there is a chasing dog along the way. It also sends us a text b/c there are areas were we will not have very good service. So once we got into Charlottesville we grabbed some food, Charlottesville is such a nice town, so much to see there!! After we ate we all road to the MS clinic all together and did a group entrance and listened to speakers etc and toured the clinic. It was very inspirational!! We then stopped at a bike shop where I picked up a special chain link that you can repair your chain with if you were to break it. Lets just hope that doesn’t happen!! After that we road about 15 ish miles to one of our fellow riders sisters house where we were able to get showers and camp. It is actually located along the route and is outside of Charlottesville in a small town called White Hall. They had dinner for us here, lasagna, chicken, salad, ice cream and lots more!! They are even making breakfast for us in the morning which we are going to need LOTS of calories due to a HUGE climb tomorrow. So her parents shuttled some of us to their house about a mile or so down the road for showers. Her parents house was beautiful here in the country side of Virginia. We drove through a winding gravel road about a mile and then crossed over a river and there were cattle grazing everywhere around the house. Here I was able to get a wonderful shower. It reminded me of a vacation cabin it was so cozy and nice up in the hills!! So tomorrow we are staying in vesuvius which is a huge climb. On the maps they give us they have a chart with the elevation and it is a HUGE spike in the chart. The other day I was talking to one of our guides Pepper about it and he said on this climb you will easily burn 10,000 calories. The descent sounds AWESOME and last year many people hit in the 50 mph range. I have to say that the trip so far has been an AMAZING experience and they say its only going to get better. There is so much we are seeing and doing!! Well that’s all for tonight I am exhausted and its 10:38 and I am getting up at 6:00 am. Nite!!
Terrain: Rolling to hilly
Temperature: 80 ish degrees
OMG, there is sooo much to write about and not enough time!! It is now 10:15 and I have finally found time and internet to write the blog for today and post yesterday’s blog. So this morning I got up around 6:45 am and didn’t leave until about 7:40 am. We had 50 miles until Charlottesville and were informed to be there by 1:30 in order to get to the James Q. Miller MS clinic. It was very hard for me to get out of bed this morning as the firehouse last night was located right by a railroad track and there were about 3 trains that went through. However, in between trains I managed to sleep well. I thought that there was an earth quake going on as the trains went through and the ground shook!! The ride was beautiful country side and pastures! I road along as I munched on combos and fig newtons out of my handlebar bag. On a trip like this you need to eat mass amounts of food b/c you are so rapidly burning calories, it really sucks to have to force feed yourself at times however, it is necessary or you will do what they call and bonk and be completely energy depleted and it is really hard to come out of a bonk. Basically if you are hungry you should have eaten an hour ago and that means it is going to take some time to regain energy eaten by food. We were so happy that we didn’t get lost today it was relieving! We are following bike rout 76 which has been marked a lot better. So we are getting closer to the mountains so that means we are starting to do a lot more climbing……..ahhhh. Oh yeah for anyone who wants to follow us on twitter you can follow us @transAm 2011 this is how we communicate out on the road for example if a road is closed or if there is a chasing dog along the way. It also sends us a text b/c there are areas were we will not have very good service. So once we got into Charlottesville we grabbed some food, Charlottesville is such a nice town, so much to see there!! After we ate we all road to the MS clinic all together and did a group entrance and listened to speakers etc and toured the clinic. It was very inspirational!! We then stopped at a bike shop where I picked up a special chain link that you can repair your chain with if you were to break it. Lets just hope that doesn’t happen!! After that we road about 15 ish miles to one of our fellow riders sisters house where we were able to get showers and camp. It is actually located along the route and is outside of Charlottesville in a small town called White Hall. They had dinner for us here, lasagna, chicken, salad, ice cream and lots more!! They are even making breakfast for us in the morning which we are going to need LOTS of calories due to a HUGE climb tomorrow. So her parents shuttled some of us to their house about a mile or so down the road for showers. Her parents house was beautiful here in the country side of Virginia. We drove through a winding gravel road about a mile and then crossed over a river and there were cattle grazing everywhere around the house. Here I was able to get a wonderful shower. It reminded me of a vacation cabin it was so cozy and nice up in the hills!! So tomorrow we are staying in vesuvius which is a huge climb. On the maps they give us they have a chart with the elevation and it is a HUGE spike in the chart. The other day I was talking to one of our guides Pepper about it and he said on this climb you will easily burn 10,000 calories. The descent sounds AWESOME and last year many people hit in the 50 mph range. I have to say that the trip so far has been an AMAZING experience and they say its only going to get better. There is so much we are seeing and doing!! Well that’s all for tonight I am exhausted and its 10:38 and I am getting up at 6:00 am. Nite!!
June 2nd – Glendale, VA to Mineral, VA
Mileage: 85 ish
Terrain: Pretty Flat to rolling
Temperature: 85ish degrees
So today the sun was up at 5:30 and people started getting up shortly after that. I didn’t get up until about 6:15 and by 7:00 ruby and I hit the road. Throughout the day we made many stops. They did have a water stop for us until about 25 miles in that we stopped at and then kept moving on. At about 40 miles in we stopped in a cute little town called Ashland and had a lunch. We did get lost in the first 40 miles only once where there was a road closed and we asked one of the construction workers if 156 went straight and he said yeah, well it actually turned to the left we found out later, and that set us back a few miles. However, I guess we were some of the lucky ones coming in at a little over 80 miles because many of the other riders were in the 90 ish miles due to getting off route. Needless to say I/we are all getting better at reading the maps and watching for road signs!! So after Ashland we still had 40 miles to go well on my way out on some back road I managed to hit a big pot hole, and thought nothing of it well later on POW!! My first flat of the trip!! Pretty sure it was a pinch flat!! There was a big slit on the tube by the presta valve. There was no patching this one which I was somewhat disappointed in due to a prize at the end of who could get the most patches in a tube and still ride on it!! Last year someone had around 4 patches in one tube!! They do this in order to save tubes. Then about 5-10 miles down the road hit a small bump and something fell from my bike. I stopped to see what it was and it was my patch kit and it had fallen from my pouch under my seat bag. I had forgotten to close the pouch when I had gotten my flat and used the tools in this pouch. This is also where I keep my Guardian Angel coin that my mom gave me and I opened it and didn’t see it and immediately started freaking out!! I didn’t want to have to go back all that way to look for it. So I took everything out of my bag and it had managed to slip all the way back to the back bottom of the bag, I was SOOO relived that it was still in the bag as this means so much to me!!!!! So we continued on and stopped a few times just to rest and also stopped at the second water stop provided to us by the van and trailer. We have been informed that from now on we need to be making sure that we are stopping at gas stations and any place that has water and or food to fill up because with this kind of mileage they are not going to be able to be our only sources of water. So many of our stops were at gas stations to grab some water and a bite to eat. So as I pedaled on at about mile 65 I began to become very tired. The first 65 I felt great and then was just getting ready to be off of the bike!! Then about 10 miles from Mineral, we stopped at a convenience store to get a drink and ice cream and told the worker about our trip and he was very interested it. We had locked our bikes outside and went outside to unlock them and move on, well one of my fellow riders was having difficulty getting her combination lock undone and had thought she had accidentally resent the password and as we were messing with it almost ready to go inside and as for a bolt cutter the worker came out with rice and noodles and gave them to us. It was soo kind of him. Oh yeah we did figure out the combination lock. Finally at mile 80 something I pulled up to the Firehouse in Mineral, VA. As I pulled up I saw many of my fellow riders in the back of the firehouse under a shelter and then I also saw two young men standing in the front of the fire house with their bikes fully loaded and didn’t recognize them from our group. So I went up to them and said where did you boys come from and they said Delaware, VA which is on the coast. They have been riding for 4 days now and are going to be following the same route as us, the transAm and are planning on getting to San Francisco before August. I think they are a little crazy for carrying all of their own gear!! So then I went to the back of the firehouse with my fellow riders sat around a little while and then the van showed up with the trailer and I grabbed my stuff and went to get a nice shower!! It was sooo nice to get a shower since I didn’t get one yesterday!! There was a lot of beautiful scenery today and it was MUCH cooler today than yesterday and the temperature didn’t bother me at all!! Then in the evening I went down the street to a restaurant and had a bite to eat with some of my fellow riders. Now I am laying in my tent with my luggage which I think I am going to leave in the trailer the next time because it is rather cozy in here (in my tent) with all of my stuff. Tomorrow morning I get to get up and play punching bag again while I try to stuff all of my things into my cubby again!! Tomorrow we have about a 60 mile ride into Charlottesville, VA which is where the James Miller MS Clinic is located at which we will make a visit to. Stay tuned for lots more fun to come!!
Terrain: Pretty Flat to rolling
Temperature: 85ish degrees
So today the sun was up at 5:30 and people started getting up shortly after that. I didn’t get up until about 6:15 and by 7:00 ruby and I hit the road. Throughout the day we made many stops. They did have a water stop for us until about 25 miles in that we stopped at and then kept moving on. At about 40 miles in we stopped in a cute little town called Ashland and had a lunch. We did get lost in the first 40 miles only once where there was a road closed and we asked one of the construction workers if 156 went straight and he said yeah, well it actually turned to the left we found out later, and that set us back a few miles. However, I guess we were some of the lucky ones coming in at a little over 80 miles because many of the other riders were in the 90 ish miles due to getting off route. Needless to say I/we are all getting better at reading the maps and watching for road signs!! So after Ashland we still had 40 miles to go well on my way out on some back road I managed to hit a big pot hole, and thought nothing of it well later on POW!! My first flat of the trip!! Pretty sure it was a pinch flat!! There was a big slit on the tube by the presta valve. There was no patching this one which I was somewhat disappointed in due to a prize at the end of who could get the most patches in a tube and still ride on it!! Last year someone had around 4 patches in one tube!! They do this in order to save tubes. Then about 5-10 miles down the road hit a small bump and something fell from my bike. I stopped to see what it was and it was my patch kit and it had fallen from my pouch under my seat bag. I had forgotten to close the pouch when I had gotten my flat and used the tools in this pouch. This is also where I keep my Guardian Angel coin that my mom gave me and I opened it and didn’t see it and immediately started freaking out!! I didn’t want to have to go back all that way to look for it. So I took everything out of my bag and it had managed to slip all the way back to the back bottom of the bag, I was SOOO relived that it was still in the bag as this means so much to me!!!!! So we continued on and stopped a few times just to rest and also stopped at the second water stop provided to us by the van and trailer. We have been informed that from now on we need to be making sure that we are stopping at gas stations and any place that has water and or food to fill up because with this kind of mileage they are not going to be able to be our only sources of water. So many of our stops were at gas stations to grab some water and a bite to eat. So as I pedaled on at about mile 65 I began to become very tired. The first 65 I felt great and then was just getting ready to be off of the bike!! Then about 10 miles from Mineral, we stopped at a convenience store to get a drink and ice cream and told the worker about our trip and he was very interested it. We had locked our bikes outside and went outside to unlock them and move on, well one of my fellow riders was having difficulty getting her combination lock undone and had thought she had accidentally resent the password and as we were messing with it almost ready to go inside and as for a bolt cutter the worker came out with rice and noodles and gave them to us. It was soo kind of him. Oh yeah we did figure out the combination lock. Finally at mile 80 something I pulled up to the Firehouse in Mineral, VA. As I pulled up I saw many of my fellow riders in the back of the firehouse under a shelter and then I also saw two young men standing in the front of the fire house with their bikes fully loaded and didn’t recognize them from our group. So I went up to them and said where did you boys come from and they said Delaware, VA which is on the coast. They have been riding for 4 days now and are going to be following the same route as us, the transAm and are planning on getting to San Francisco before August. I think they are a little crazy for carrying all of their own gear!! So then I went to the back of the firehouse with my fellow riders sat around a little while and then the van showed up with the trailer and I grabbed my stuff and went to get a nice shower!! It was sooo nice to get a shower since I didn’t get one yesterday!! There was a lot of beautiful scenery today and it was MUCH cooler today than yesterday and the temperature didn’t bother me at all!! Then in the evening I went down the street to a restaurant and had a bite to eat with some of my fellow riders. Now I am laying in my tent with my luggage which I think I am going to leave in the trailer the next time because it is rather cozy in here (in my tent) with all of my stuff. Tomorrow morning I get to get up and play punching bag again while I try to stuff all of my things into my cubby again!! Tomorrow we have about a 60 mile ride into Charlottesville, VA which is where the James Miller MS Clinic is located at which we will make a visit to. Stay tuned for lots more fun to come!!
charlottesville!!
Sorry i havent gotten to post yesterdays blog yet, will later on today. Got 50 miles in and waiting to go to the james Q miller MS clinic. News media and everything is going to be there!! After this probably gonna hang around here in town for a little while, its such a neat town!! Then head about 10 miles or so to one of our fellow rider, shannons parents house where we are camping for the night!! More to come later!!
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
blogging
I am going to type out todays (june 2) blog and at the time have no internet conection, so will post it tomorrow b/c i dont really want to type it out on my phone, needless to say it was a very fun and eventful day. Stay tuned!!
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Wednesday, June 1, 2011
June 1st - Yorktown, VA to Gendale, VA
Mileage: 60ish
Terrain: Pretty Flat
Temperature: 95 degrees
Today at 8:00 AM we dipped our wheel and were on our way. It wasn’t too hot to begin with however it soon became VERY hot as the day went on. We had many stops along the way today two that were provided by the support van to get water and others such as in Jamestown when we got a little bit turned around. Another stop we made as we were riding along was at a small produce market that a lady ran and had signs out for FREE freeze pops so we thought, oh, we better stop and get one!! There was many other times that we stopped to check the map to make sure we were on track. One of the stops that the van and trailer stopped at there was a sub shop so we grabbed lunch there. Needless to say the end of the ride began to get very long as the heat of the day was setting in!! Finally, we arrived at our stop for the night which is a church that is located just outside of Glendale, VA. We get here to find out that they are breaking us in early and there isn’t a shower here However, we do get to sleep in this building behind the church that is air conditioned so I guess it makes up for not getting a shower!! So I used my water bottles full of water from the bathroom to rinse out my hair and also used baby wipes to clean up. Wasn’t feeling so well as far as cleanliness earlier however, now that I am sitting in air conditioning and have cooled off don’t feel too bad. So for supper there is a convenience store about ½ mile to 1 mile down the road that we are going to pick up some snacks. Everything is going well for the time being and my biggest concern is how I am going to get all of my stuff into my cubby tomorrow morning (I think I may have over packed, but what is new) and then the 80 mile ride tomorrow which I am hoping to leave for when the sun comes up so it will be a bit cooler.
Terrain: Pretty Flat
Temperature: 95 degrees
Today at 8:00 AM we dipped our wheel and were on our way. It wasn’t too hot to begin with however it soon became VERY hot as the day went on. We had many stops along the way today two that were provided by the support van to get water and others such as in Jamestown when we got a little bit turned around. Another stop we made as we were riding along was at a small produce market that a lady ran and had signs out for FREE freeze pops so we thought, oh, we better stop and get one!! There was many other times that we stopped to check the map to make sure we were on track. One of the stops that the van and trailer stopped at there was a sub shop so we grabbed lunch there. Needless to say the end of the ride began to get very long as the heat of the day was setting in!! Finally, we arrived at our stop for the night which is a church that is located just outside of Glendale, VA. We get here to find out that they are breaking us in early and there isn’t a shower here However, we do get to sleep in this building behind the church that is air conditioned so I guess it makes up for not getting a shower!! So I used my water bottles full of water from the bathroom to rinse out my hair and also used baby wipes to clean up. Wasn’t feeling so well as far as cleanliness earlier however, now that I am sitting in air conditioning and have cooled off don’t feel too bad. So for supper there is a convenience store about ½ mile to 1 mile down the road that we are going to pick up some snacks. Everything is going well for the time being and my biggest concern is how I am going to get all of my stuff into my cubby tomorrow morning (I think I may have over packed, but what is new) and then the 80 mile ride tomorrow which I am hoping to leave for when the sun comes up so it will be a bit cooler.
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